
Class. 
Book. 



ILEAL TUEASTJUE 



FOR THE 



jpi®wg mair®. 



Comjpileti fi^ a !Lati^» 



FROM THE COLLECTIONS AND WRITINGS 

Of the Countess of Huntingdon^ Mrs. Roive^ 

Miss Harvey J Dr, Watts^ Mr. Ferin^ 

Mr. Smithy and others. 



NEW-HAVEN, 

Published hy John Babcock ^ Son. 
Sidney's press. 

1820. 



B V4S bs. 



-R 



55,?" 



605163 

FEB" 1 7 1941 



A REAt. 

TREASURE 

FOR THE 

PIOUS MIND. 



Desires of the SouL 



WHAT wantest thou, my soul ! with what e%- 
cellency wouldst thou clothe thyself? what objects 
wouldst thou pitch upon ? Is it beauty ? The 
righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the king- 
dom of heaven, and the wise as the brightness of 
the firmament for ever and ever. Is it riches ? 
Wealth and riches are in the house of God ; ev- 
ery one in his family shall have a rich, a glorious, 
an incorruptible and eternal inheritance among 
the saints. What is it then ? Is it honour ? What 
honour like to this, to be a friend and a favour- 
ite of God, and a spouse of Christ? To have a1| 
crown of righteousness, of life, and of glory ? 
Yet more, a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory set upon thy head. Yet again, 
is it pleasure ? The just shall enter into their 
master's joy, and theie are rivers of ple«^ure at 
his right hand for evermore. In a word, what 
wouldst thou have, O my flesh ? A confluence of 
all the glorious things both in heaven and on 
earth ? Why, godliness hath the promise of this 



life, and of that whicli is to come. If heaven 
and the righteousness thereof, be the thing thou 
dost seek ; both heaven and earth, with the ex- 
cellencies thereof, is that v;hich thou shalt fuid. 
Nothing in this world I want, 

No treasure here beneath ; 
Only for thee, Lord, I pant, 

For thee alone I breaihe : 
Wipe av/ay my nature's sin, 

Thy image to my breast restore ; 
Thou alone canst make me clean. 

And bid me sin no more. 
Thou in vi test me to come 

To share thy people's rest; 
Poor in spirit I presume 

To press unto the feast : 
Saving faith to me impart, 

And clothe me with thy righteousness : 
In the fountain dip my heart, 

And sign my glad release. 
Fill me with thy perfect love, 

And answer each complaint ; 
Unbelieving thoughts remove, 

And banish all my wants. 
Lord, enable me by grace 

My ev'ry weight to lay aside ; 
Patiently to run my race, 

Till thou dost take thy bride. 

Christian's Choice. 
I am frail, and the world is fading ; but my 
soul is immortal, and God is eternal. If 1 pitch 



upon the creatures, they may take wings like aL 
eagle that flieth towards heaven, or my soul may 
take its way w^ith the rich fool, and go to hell ; 
but if I chuse God for my portion, then mercy 
and goodness shall follow me w^hilst I. live, and 
glory and eternity shall crown me when I die. I 
will therefore now leave that which I shall soon 
lose, that so I may embrace that which I shall al- 
ways enjoy. 

One there is above all others, 

Who deserves the name of friend ; 
His is love beyond a brother's, 
Costly, free, and knows no end 2 
They v/ho once his kindness prove, 
Find it everlasting love. 

Which of all our friends, to save us, 

Could or w^ould have shed his blood ? 
But our Jesus died to have us, 
Reconciled by him to God: 

This was boundless love indeed^ 
Jesus is a friend in need. 

When he iiv'd on earth abased, 
Friend of sinners was his name ; 

Kow, above all glory raised, 
He rejoices in the same : 

Stili he calls them brethren, friends, 
' And to ail their wants attends. 



^Spiritual Joys and Sorrorvs, 
x\s there is a sad mirth, so there is a joyful 
mourning : I.ook upon the voluptuous man, how- 



6 

eyer laughter may appear in his face, yet sadness 
ever centres in his heart ; his carnal delights are 
not only vain, but vexing; like music, they play 
him into a melancholy fit : Whilst the banquet 
lasts, the sensualist sings ; but when the reckon* 
ing comes, his spirit sinks, his burning candle 
presently goes out in a stinking snuff, his shining 
sun instantly sets in the watery cloud. Somolon 
gives us the sum of it thus : Even in laughter 
the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth 
is heaviness. But now come to the penitential 
person, as his tears are the joy of angels, so they 
are the joy of his heart, and the solace of his soul ; 
the Salter his tears, the sweeter his comforts ; the 
deeper his sighs, the fuller his joy ; the beams of 
consolation always shine into this house of mourn- 
ing, so that his soul is in travail with a Barnabas, 
and his labours bring forth the fruits of peace ; 
insomuch that I may truly say, to mourn for sin, 
is to weep for joy. These pure and pleasant 
streams of consolation (which are the workK 
ling's wonders) which flow and run in those 
chrystal rivers of eternal pleasure, at God's 
right hand, come from a weeping spring. Why 
then is the mouth of wickedness opened against 
the way of holiness ? As if grace was the calvary 
to entomb joys ; and impiety the womb to bring 
forth felicity ; but if experience may be heard, 
my soul hath felt both, and I find such damps of 
spirit in the worldly pleasures, and such refresh- 
ings of soul in the depth of godiy sorrow, that 
I shall esteem one drop of such spiritual joy, 
more than an ocean of their mirth? 



And let this feeble body fail, 

And let it faint or die; 
My soul shall quit the mournful vale 

And soar to worlds on high : 
Shall join the disembodied saints, 

And find its long sought rest, 
(That only rest for which it pants) 

On the Redeemer's breast. 
In hope of that immortal crown, 

I now the cross sustain; 
And gladly wander up and down, 

And smile at toil and pain. 
I travel my appointed years, 

Till my deliverer come, 
And wipe av/ay his servant's tears, 

And take his exile home, 
© what has Jesus bought for me ! 

Before my ravish'd eyes, 
Rivers of life divine, I see. 

And trees of Paradise : 
I see a world of spirits bright, 

Who taste the pleasures there ; 
They all are rob'd in radiant white, 

And conquering pahns they bear. 
Liord what are all my sufferings here 

If thou but mak'st me meet, 
With that enraptur'd host t'appear. 

And worship at thy feet. 
Give joy or grief, give ease or pain ; 

Take life and friends away ; 
But let me find them all again, 

Jn that eternal da v. 



iLstate of a Man at Death. 

As the tree fnlleth, so itiieth ; and where cleatii 
strikes down, there God lays out, either for mer- 
cy or misery ; so that I may compare it to the 
red sea ; if I go in an Israelite, my landing shall 
be in glory, and my rejoicing in triumph, to see 
all my enemies dead upon the sea shore ; but if I 
go in an Elgyptian, if 1 am on this side of the 
cloud, on -this side the covenant, and yet go in 
hardened among the troops of Pharoah, justice 
shall return in its full strength, and an inunda- 
tion of judgment shall overflow my soul forever. 
Or else I may compare it to the sleep of the ten 
virgins, of whom it is said, they slumbered and 
slept, w^e shall all fail into this sleep. Now if I 
lie doAvn with the wise, 1 shall go in with the 
bridegvoom; but if I sleep with the foolish, with- 
out oil in my lamp, w^i^hcut grace in my soul, I 
have clo.-.ed the gates of mercy upon my soul for- 
ever. 1 see then this life is the time wherein I 
must go forth to meet the Lord ; this is the hour 
wherein I must do my work, and the day where- 
in I must be judged according to my works. I 
know not how soon I may fall into this sleep ; 
therefore, Lord, grant that I may live every day 
in thy sight, as 1 desire to appear the last day in 
thy presence. 

Still out of the deepest abyss 
Of trouble I mournfully cry : 



And pine to recover my peace. 
And see my Redeemer and die. 

I cannot, T cannot forbear 

These passionate longings for home ; 
O ! when will my spirit be there ? ] 

O ! when will the messenger come ? 

Thy nature I long to put on, 
Thy image on earth to regain ; 

And then in the grave to lie down 
This burden of body and pain. 

O ! Jesus in pity draw near, 

And lull me to sleep on thy breast ; 

Appear to my rescue, appear, 
And gather me into thy rest. 

To take a poor fugitive in, 

The arms of thy mercy display, 

And give me to rest from all sin. 
And bear me triumphant away* 

Away from this world of distress. 

Aw^ay to the mansions above ; 
The heaven of seeing thy face— - 

The heaven of feeling thy love. 

The Soul's Co77i}niinion* 

The nearer the moon draweth into conjunction 

with the sun, the brighter it shines towards the 

heavens, and the obscurer it shews towards the 

earth ; so the nearer the soul draws into commun-^ 



iO 

ion with Jesus Christ, the comelier it is in the 
eye of the spouse, and the blacker it appears in 
the sight of the world. He that is a precious 
christian to the Lord, is a precise puritan to the 
world ; he that is glorious to a heavenly saint, is 
odious to an earthly spirit ; but it is a sign thou 
art an Egyptian, when that cloud which is alight 
to an Israelite, i^ darkness to thee. It is a sign 
thou movest in a terrestrial orb, w^hen thou seest 
np lustre in such celestial lights ; for my part if I 
shine to God, I care not how I show to the world> 

Sw^eet as a shepherd's tuneful reed, 

From Sion's mount I heard the sound ; 

Gay spring the fiowrets of the mead. 
And gladdened nature smil'd around. 

The voice of peace salutes mine ear ; 

C/hrist's lovely voice perfumes the air. 

Peace, troubled soul, whose plaintive mcai];, 
Hath taught these rocks the note of woe ; 

Cease thy complaint, suppress thy groan, 
And let thy tears forget to flow. 

Hehold the precious balm is found. 

Which lulls thy pain, which heals thy wound. 

Come, freely come, by sin oppressed, 
Unburthen here the weighty load, 

Here find thy refuge, and thy rest. 
Safe on the bosom of thy God. 

Thy God*s thy Saviour's glorious word ! 

^J?hat sheaths tV avenger's gUtt'ring swords 



11 



As spring the winter, clay the night, 
Peace sorrow's gloom shall chace away ; 

And smiling joy, a seraph bright. 

Shall tend thy steps and near thee stay. 

Whilst glory waves th' immortal crown, 

And waits to claim thee for her own» 



A Christianas support under affliction* 
It was proudly said by Caisar, (crossing un- 
known the sea, being in a little bark, in a tem- 
pestuous storm, when they were ready to be 
swallowed up by the waves, percerving the cour- 
age of the pilot to fail,) Fear not, for ihou carri- 
est Csesar. Hovv^ truly may a gracious spirit say 
in the midst of all afflictions, and tribulations. 
Fear nothing, O my soul, thou carriest Jesus 
Christ ! What, though the v/indows of heaven be 
opened for a storm, or the fountains of the deep, 
broken up for a flood, afflictions from above^. 
troubles from below ; yet God who sits in hea.vea 
will not cast away his Son, Christ who lives in 
me will not 1-et me sink ; the sv/elling waves, l 
know, are but to set me nearer heaven, and the 
deeps are but to m^ike me awake my masten 
Prize thy Christ; they shall not drown thee; 
therefore they cannot daunt me ; for while I sail 
with Christ, I am sure to land with Christ? 

1. Let me thou sov'reign liord cf all^ 
Low at thv footstool humbly fall \ 



12 

And while I feel affliction's rod, 

Be still and know that thou art God. 

2. When, or wherever thou shalt smite, 
ni own thee kind, I'll own thee right ; 
And underneath the heaviest load, 
Be still and know that thou art God* 

3. Dost thou my earthly comforts stay, 
And take beloved ones away ; 

Yet Vv ill my soul revere the rod, 

Be still, and know that thou art God, 

4. Then be my trials great or small, 
There's sure a needs»be for them all ; 
Thus, then, thy dealings I'll applaud. 
Be still, and know that thou art God. 

5. Let me not murmur, nor repine. 
Under these trying strokes of thine ; 
But, while I walk the mournful roadj, 
Be still, and know that thou art God. 

6. Still let this truth support my mind, 
Thou canst not err nor be unkind ; 
And thus ipay 1 improve the rod, 

Be stiih and know that thou art God, 

7. Thy love thou'It make in heaven appea 
In all I've borne and suffer'd here ; 
Let me till brought to that abode. 

Be still, and knov/ that thou art God. 



IS 



8. There, when my happy soul shall rise 
To joys and Jesus in the skits : 
I shall, as ransom'd by his blood. 
Forever sing, thou art my God. 



God'^s presence makes all conditions comfortable. 

Where the king is, there is the court; and 
where the presence of God is, there is heaven. 
Art thou in prison with St. Paul and Silas^if God 
is with thee thou v/ilt sing thy hallelujahs. Art 
thou at the stake with blessed martyrs , as the 
beams of the sun put out the fire, so the beams 
of God^s countenance put out the flames, and 
turn their troubles into comforts; so that 'tis but 
winking, and thou art in heaven. Therefore that 
soul which enjoys the Lord, though it may want 
the sun or moon to shine in creature comforts, 
worldly delights to solace it; yet it needs theni 
not, for the glory of God doth enlighten it, and 
the lamb is the light thereof; God himself irra- 
diates it with the brightness of his beauty, and 
Christ himself fills it with joy unspeakable, and 
full of glory. This God brings his heaven with 
him, and that man who enjoys God, carries 
heaven about him; so that here is happiness. 
Cast him into the dungeon, into a furnace, where 
you please, yet he is still in heaven. Therefore, 
for my part, Lord give me thyself, and then dafe 
how thou pleasest with me. 



14 

1. Through all the world belowj 

Cod we see all around ; 
Seaich hills and vallics through, 

1 hcjre he's found ; 

The growing of the corn, 
The lily and the thorn, 
The pleasant and forlorn, 

All declare, God is there ; 
In meadows drest in green. 
There he's seen. 

2. See springing waters rise^ 

Fountains flow, rivers run^ 
The mist beclouds the sky, 

Hides the sun ; 

Then down the rain doth pour^ 
The ocean it doth roar, 
And beat upon the shore, 

All to praise, in their lays, 
A God that ne'er declines, 
His designs. 

od The sun with all his rays. 

Speaks of God as he flies ; 
The comet with her blaze, 
God, she cries ; 

The shining of the stars, 
The moon, when it appears^ 
His dreadful name declares, 
As they fly through the sky. 
While shades of silent sound, 
Joiu the round 



15 

i. Then let my station be, 

Here in life, where I see 
The sacred one in three, 
All agree. 

In all the works he^s made, 

The forest and the glade ; 

Nor let me be afraid. 
Though I dwell in a hilU 

Since nature's works declare, 

God is there, 

5. When God did Moses shew^ 

Glories more than Peru, 
His face alone withdrew 
From his view. 
Mount Sinai is the place 
Where God did shew his grace, 
While Moses sang his praise. 
See him rise through the skies, 
And view old Canaan's ground 
All around^ 

6. Elijah's servant hears 

From the hill, and declares^ 
A little cloud appears, 
Dry your tear^ ; 

Our Lord transfigured is, 

With the two saints of his, 

As say the witnesses, 
See him shine all divine, 

While Olive's mount is blest 

With the rest 



16 

'\ Not India full of gold. 

With the wonders we are told;. 
Nor seraphs strong and bold^ 

Can unfold, 

The mountain Calvary, 

Where Christ our Lord did die , 

Hark, hear the God-nnan cry, 

Mountains quake, heavens shake, 
Whilst God, their author's ghosts 
Left the coast. 

8. And now on Calvary, 

We may stand here and spy, 
Beyond this lov\^er sky, 
Far on high. 

Mount Sion's spicy hill, 

Where saints and angels dwell? 

And hear them sing and tell 
Of their Lord with accord : 

And join in Moses' song, 

Heart and tongue. 

9. Since hills are honour^ thus, 

By our Lord in his course^ 
Let them not be by us, 
CalPd accurst : 

Forbid it, mighty King, 

But rather let us sing, 

Till hills and vallies ring, 
""^icho fly through the sky. 

And heaven hear the sound 

From the ground. 



17 

Importunate requests for the return of G^dts the 



soul. 



Thou great and glorious, thou invisible and uni- 
versal Being art thou no nearer to be approached ' 
or do 1 search thee amiss ? Is there a corner of the 
creation unvisited by thee ? or any place exempt 
from thy presence ? 1 trace thy footsteps throuoh 
heaven and earth, but I cannot overtake thee. 

Whv do T seek thee if thou art not here ? 
yjt find thee not if thou art ev'ry where ? 



Tell me, O my God, and my all ; tell me wherr 
thou art to be found ; for there is the pi .^^ TZ 
rest. What imaginable good ca. supplv thv 2 
sence : D.pnvec^ of thee, all the worldcould'offer 
would be hke a jest to a dying man, and provoke 
my aversion and disdain. 'Tis a G^l that Ise^fc! 

O for a closer walk with God, 

A calm and heavenly frame'i 
A light to shine upon the roud,' 

Which leads me to the Lamb. 

Where is the blessedness f knew 

When fijst I saw the Lord ? * 
Where is the soul-refreshing view 

Ut Jesus and his word ? 

\Vhat peaceful hours \ once eniov'd • 
How sweet their mem xy stui •' ' 
2 



18 

But now T find an aching void, 
Which God alone can fill. 

Return, O Holy Dove, return, 

Sweet messenger of rest^ 
I hate the sins which made thee mourn. 

And drove thee from my breast. 

The dearest idol I have known, 

Whatever that idol be. 
Help me to tear it from thy throne. 

And worship only thee. 

So shall my walk be close with God, 

Calm and serene my frame ; 
And light divine mark out the road 

Which leads me to the Lamb. 

Jesus, my Lord, my life, my light, 

O come with blissful ray ; 
Break radiant through the shades of nighty 

And chase these clouds away. 

Then shall my soul with rapture trace 

The tokens of thy love, 
But the fuil glories of thy face, 

Are only known above. 

Death Vanquished. 

The Israelites must first pass over Jordan, be- 
fdre they lami in Canaan ; but no sooner did the 



19 

feet of the priests who bore the ark of the cove- 
nant, rest in the water, than the proud waves saw 
it and fled, and the swelling stream was driven 
back, and laid in heaps to let them pass over safe 
and well ; so every child of God is like an Israel- 
ite in the wilderness of this world, travelling to 
the land of promise ; death is that Jordan which 
runs between this wilderness and our Canaan ; it 
is that swelling stream which overflows the banks 
of every mortal creature ; it is that last river 
which must be passed over ; but this is the hap- 
piness of a child of God, that Jesus Christ our 
high prieet, who bears the everlasting covenant 
upon his shoulders, hath already dipt his feet into 
the brim of this water, insomuch that the streams 
of bitterness are diverted, the sting of death 
plucked out, and the water of the salt sea is dri- 
ed up ; the power of the curse is cut ofl; so that 
death is but a sure step to glory. Why then am 
1 afraid to die ? The channel is dry, I see the 
footsteps of my Saviour at the bottom, and heaven 
and happiness on the other side ; so that the wa- 
ters shall not go over my soul ; they may go over 
my sms, they may go over my miseries, they may 
go over my troubles ; but my'soul shall go over to 
Its rest. Lord, therefore fit and sanctify me for 
my removal, and then I cannot be too soon with 
thee. 

Death cannot make my soul afraid 

If God be with me there ; 
Soft is the passage through the shade, 

And all the prospect fair. 



§0 

J<^sus, the vision of thy face 
Hath ovcrpowtrring charms ; 

Scarce shall I feel death's cold embrace, 
If Christ be in my arms. 

There everlasting spring abides, 
And never vvithVing flowers : 

Death like a narrow stream divides 
That heavenly land from ours. 

Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood, 
Stand drest in living green ; 

So to the Jevvs old Canaan stood, 
While Jordan rolPd between. 

O could I make my fears remove, 
These gloomy fears which rise ; 

And see the Canaan which 1 love, 
With unbeclouded eyes : 

ClaspM in ,my heavenly Father's arms, 

I would forget to breathe, 
And lose my life amidst the charms 
' Of so divine a death* 



The use of Riches. 

That good which is in riches, lieth altogether 
in their use ; like the woman's box of ointment, 
if it be not broken and poured out for the sweet 



refreshment of Jesus Christ In his distressed mem- 
bers, they lose their worth ; therefore the covet- 
ous man may truly write upon his rusting heaps, 
These are good for nothing. Chrysostom tttUs us, 
that he is not rich who lays up much ; but he who 
lays out much ; for it is all one not to have, and 
not to use. I will therefore be the richer by a 
charitable laying out, while the v/orldling shall be 
the poorer, by his covetous hoarding up. 

t. Tho* troubles assail, and dangers affright ; 
Tho' friends should all fail, and foes all unite, 
Yet one thing secures us whatever betide. 
The promise ensures us the Lord will provide. 

2. The birds, without barns or store-house are fed; 
Like them let us learn to trust for our bread : 
His saints what is fitting shall ne'er be denied, 
So long as 'tis written the Lord will provide. 

3. We all may like ships with tempests be tost 
On perilous deeps but need not be lost, 
Tho' Satan enrages the wind and the tide, 
Yet scripture engages the Lord will provide. 

4. Thy call we obey, like Abram of old ; 

We know not the way, bu^ faith makes us bold; 
Altbo' we are strangers, we have a sure guide, 
And trust in all dangers the J^rd will provide. 

5. When Satan appears to stop up our path. 
And fills us with fears> we triumph by laith : 



22 



Th/hT?' ?^' •^''°'" ""'' '^°' °^^ »^^ has tried, 
vide "^ promise, the Lord will pro- 

^'ThV'"^"\'^^'''^ ^^^^k, our hope is in vain j 
The good that we seek, we ne'er shall obtain ; 
But when such suggestions our graces have tried, 
lhisanswcrsallquestions,theLord will provide! 

7. No strength of our own.nor goodness we claim- 
Our trust .3 all thrown upon^Jesus's name ; 

1., thH our strong tower for safety we hide ; 
1 he Lord is our power, the Lerd will provide. 

8. When life sinks apace, and death is in view. 
The word of his grace shall comfort us thro' ; 
Not fearing nor doubting with Christ on our side 
We hope to die shouting, the Lord will provide. 

The absence of God on earth. 

What is hell, what is damnation, but an exclu- 
sion from thy presence ? 'Tis the want of that 
which gives the regions of darkness all their hor- 
ror. What IS heaven, what are the satisfactions 
ot angels, but the views of thv glory ? AVhat but 
thy smiles and complacence are the springs of their 
immortal transports ? 

Without the light of thy countenance, what 
privilege is my being ? What canst thou thvself 



23 

give me to countervail the infinite loss ? Could 
the riches, the empty gloritrs, and insipid pleasures 
of the world recompence me for it ? Ah ! no ; not 
all the variety of the creation could satisfy me 
while I am deprived of thee. Let the ambitious, 
the licentious, and covetous, share these trifles 
among themselves ; they are no amusements for 
my dejected thoughts. 

There was a time (but ah ! that happy time is 
past, those blissful moments gone) when, with a 
modest assurance, I could call thee '^ my father, 
my almighty friend, my defence, my hope, and 
my exceeding great rewards" But these glorious 
advantages are lost, those ravishing prospects 
withdrawn, and to my trembling soul thou dost 
no more appear but as a consuming fire, an inac- 
cessible majesty, my severe judge, my omnipotent 
adversary ; and who shall deliver me out of thy 
hands ? where, shall I find a shelter from thy 
wrath ! what shades can cover me from thy all- 
seeing. eye ? 

One glance from thee, one piercing ray, 

Would kindle darkness into day : 

The veil of night is no disguise, 

Nor screen from thy all searching eyes : 

Thro' midnight shades thou find'st thy way 

As in the blazing noon of day. 

" But will the Lord cast oflp forever ? Will he 
be favorable no more ? Has God indeed forgotten 
to be gracious ? Will he shut out my prayer fipr 



24 

e!verv and must I never behold mv Maker ? Must 
I never meet those smiles ^vhich fill the heavenly 
inhabitants with unutterable joy ; those smiles 
which enlighten the celestial region, and make 
everlasting day above ? In vain then have these 
wretched eyes beheld the light ; in vain am f en- 
dued with reasonable faculties and immortal prm- 
ciples : Alas ! what will they prove but everlas- 
ting curses, if I must never see the face of God ? 

Is it a dream, or do I hear 
The voice which so delights my ear : 
Lo ! he o'er hills his steps extends. 
And bounding from the cliffs, descends ; 
Now like a roe outstrips the wind, 
And leaves the panting hart behind. 

" I have waited for thee as they who wait for 
the morning,'* and thy returns are more welcome 
than the springing day- light after the horrors of 
a melancholy night ; more welcome than ease to 
the sick, than water to the thirsty, or rest to the 
weary traveller. How undone was I without 
thee ? In vain, while thou wert absent, the world 
has tried to entertain me ; all it could offer was 
like jests to a dying man, or like recreations to the 
damned. On thy favour alone my tranquility de- 
pends ,• deprived of that, I should fight for hap- 
piness in the midst of a paradise ; ^' thy loving 
kindness better than life." And if a taste of thy 
love be tlims transporting, what exstacics shall I 



} 



25 

know when I drink mj^ fill of the streams of bliss 
which flow from thy right hand forever. 

But when — 

When shall this happy day of vision be ? 

When shall I make a near approach to thee ? 

Be lost in love, and wrapt in ecstacy. 

Oh ! When shall I behold thee all serene, 

Without this envious cloudy veil between ? 

'Tis true the sacred elements^ impart 

Thy virtual presence to my faithful heart ; 

But to my sense still unreveaPd thou art. 

This, tho' a great, is an imperfect bliss, 

To see a shadow for the God I wish ; 

My soul a more exalted pitch would fly, 

And view thee in the heights of majesty. 



Longing for the coming of Christ. 

Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly; oh! come, 
lest my expectations faint, lest I grow weary, and 
murmur at thy long delay. I am tired with these 
vanities, and the world grows every day more 
unentertaining and insipid; it has now lost its 
charms, and finds my heart insensible to all its 
allurements. With coldness and contempt, I view 
these transitory glories : inspired with nobler 
prospects, and vaster expectations, by faith I see 
the promised land, and every day brings me ne^r- 

^ The Lor(Ps Supper* 



26 

er the possession of my heavenly inheritance— 
When I shall see God and live, and face to face 
behold my triumphant Redeemer. 

And in his favor find immortal light ; 

Ye hours, and days, cut short vour tedious flight ; 

Ye months, and years (if such allotted be 

In this detested, barren world, for me) 

With hasty revolutions roll along ; 

I languish with impatience to be gone. 

I have nothing here to linger for ; my hope«, 
my rest, my treasure, and my joys, are all above ; 
my soul faints for the courts of the Lord in a dry 
and thirsty land, where there is no refreshment. 

How long "shall I dwell in Meshech, and so- 
journ in the tents of Kedar ?*' When will the 
wearisome journey of life be finished? When 
shall I reach my everlasting home, and arrive at 
my celestial country ? My heart, my wishes are 
already there ,- I have no engagements to delay 
my farewell, nothing to detain me here ; but wan- 
der an unacquainted pilgrim, a stranger and des- 
olate, far from my native regions. 

My friends are gone before, and are now tri- 
umphing in the skies secure of conquest, possessed 
of the rewards of victory. They survey the field 
of battle, and look back with pleasure on the dis- 
tant danger : death and hell^forever vanquished, 
leave them in the possession of endless tranquili- 
ty and joy ; while I, beset with a thousand snares, 
apd tired wit^ continued toil, unsteadily maintain 



27 

tlni'^: *'"^^"r^ f^«h steps in, assures me qF 
'SS f •?? '^^^^ "^ ^''^ ^'""'^'-tal crown.- 
JXr- i ,?■ '^^' ""Sht is sown for the up- 

right in heart ;" u assures me that "my Redeem- 

thi. hoH though after my skin worms destroy 

this, body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; whom 

shall heh "ir't ^""i "°' ^"°*^^'- ' «°d th;se e^e^ 
shall behold, though my reins be consumed with 
me. Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus." This 
must be the language of my soul till thou dost an! 
S'?"i f»f^ my impatient breathings after thee. 
II I see thy salvation, my heart and my flesh 
will pine for the living God. ^ 

" f >•»« me. O Lord, to fulfil as an hirelinc- 

Son "^ 'l^^'T *^1 ?P^*^^' ^'^^ '^^ « be fuK 
action. Tis of small importance how few there 

&r duty!" '"^^ "P ^"^^ ^-°^-«' -d ^ith 

Come thou long expected Jesus, 

Born to set thy people free ; 
*rom our fears and sins release us. 

Let us find our rest in Thee < 
Israel's strength and consolation, 

Hope of all the earth Thou art; 
-Uear desire of every nation, 

Joy of every longing heart. 

B^n thy people to deliver ,• 
Born a child, and yet a King J 



28 



Born to reign in us forever, 

Now thy gracious kingdom bring 

By thy own eternal Spirit; 
Rale in all our hearts alone ; 

By thy all sufficient merit, 

Raise us to thy glorious throne ! 



Assurance cf Salvation in Christ Jesus. 

I have put m)'^ treasures, my immortal part, ia- 
to thy haaclR, O my dear Redeemer ; and " shall 
the prey be taken from the mighty ?" Shall a soul 
consecrated to Thee, fall a sacrifice to hell ? 

Blessed God, am I not ihifte I And shall the 
temple of thy spirit be profaned, and the lips that 
have 30 often ascribed dominion, and glory, and 
majesty to Thte, be defiled with infernal blasphe- 
my, and the execrations of the damned i Shall 
the sparks of divine love be extinguished, and 
immortal enmity succeed ? And shall I, who was 
once blessed with thy favor^ become the object of 
thy wrath and indignation ? Shall all the mighty 
things thou hait ddfte for my soul be forgotten ? 
Shall all my vowsv and thy own secret engage- 
ments be cancelled ? *Tis all impossible ; for 
" thou art not as a man, that thou shouldst lie ; 
nor as the son of man, that thou shouldst repent," 

Thou art engaged by thine own tremendous 
name for my security s my God, and my father's 
God : from generation to generation, thdu hast | 



been our dwelling place. I was devoted to thee 
in baptism by the solenrin vows of my religious 
parents : my infant hands were early lifted up to 
thee, and I soon learned to know and acknowl- 
edge the God of my fathers. I have actually sub- 
scribed with my hand to the Lord, and am thine 
by the most voluntary and deliberate obligations. 
The portion of Jacob is my joyful choice, nor 
need I fear losing it while thy word is established 
as the heavens. 

Fear not, sayest thou, poor trembling soul, for 
I am thy Redeemer, and thy mighty Saviour, the 
hope of Israel, and in my name shall ail the na- 
tions of the earth be blessed : '' I am gracious and 
merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in good- 
ness and truth.'^ These are the titles by which I 
have revealed mvself to men. I came the ex- 
pected Messiah, the star of Jacob, and the Glory 
of the Gentiles ; I came from the fulness of inef- 
fable glory, in the form of man, to redeem the 
race of Adam ; 1 am v/illing and able to save, 
*' and whosoever comes to me I will in no wise 
cast away.;' Fear not, I had kind designs towards 
thee from eternity ; and by these visible signs of 
my body and blood I seal my love to thy soul ; 
take here the pledge of heaven, the assurance of 
everlasting happiness. 

Gentle Jesus, lovely Lamb, 
Thine and only thine, I am : 
Take my body, spirit, soul, 
Oaly thou possess the whole. 



so 

Thou my one thing needful be. 
Let me ever cleave to Thee ; 
Let me chuse the better part, 
Let me give Thee all my hearts 

Fairer than the sons of men, 
Do not let me turn again, 
Leave the fountain-head of bliss, 
Stoop to creature happiness ! 

Whom have I on earth below ? 
Only Thee IM wish to know : 
Whom have I in heav'n but Thee ? 
Thou art all in all to me. 

All my treasure is above, 
All my riches is thy love : 
Who the worth of love can tell ? 
Infinite ! unsearchable ? 

Nothing else may I require j 
Let me Thee alone desire : 
Pieas'd with what thy love provides : 
Wean'd from all the world besides. 

On future expectations. 

BY A LADY. 

There is a sweet enthusiastic melancholy that 
sometimes steals upon the soul — even thought it- 
self is for a while suspended, and every scene in 



31 

nature seems to wear an image of the mind. How 
delightful are the sensations at such a time : 
though felt, they cannot be described ; it is a kind 
of anticipation of those pleasures we are taught 
to expect hereafter ; the soul seems entirely ab- 
stracted from every earthly idea, wrapped up in 
the contemplation of future happiness. Ask 
yourself in one of these moments, what there is 
in this world worth a thought ; and you will an- 
swer, nothing ; its sublunary pleasure is but a 
dream, and vanishes like a shadow. This should 
convince us more than any thing, that there is a 
future state. Our souls are formed to taste high- 
er delights, more refined sensations than anj 
thing in this life can excite ; and something from 
within tells us we shall one day enjoy them ; else 
why these ideas ; why these expectations ; of 
what use would be those noble sentiments, with 
which the mind is sometimes impressed ; if we 
were oraly to act an insignificant part for a few 
years in this life, and then sink into nothing? 
No, there must be a future state, and that im- 
mortal ? '^ 'Tis Heaven itself that points out an 
hereafter, and intimates eternity to man.*' 

The American Hero* 

A SAPPHIC ODE. 

1. Whv should vain mortals tremble at the 
sight of 
Death and destruction in thtj field of battle. 



32 

Where blood and carnage clothe the ground 
in crimson, 

Sounding in death groans ? 

8. Death will invade us by the means ap- 
pointed, 

And we must all bow to the king of terrors ; 

Nor am I anxioris, if I am prepared. 
What shape be comes in. 

3. Infinite goodness teaches us submission ; 
Bivis us be quiet under all his dealings : 
iSIever repining, but forever praising 

God our Creator. 

4. Well may we praise him— all his ways are 

perfect ; 
Though a resplendence, iofiiiitely glowing, 
Dazzles in glory on the sight of mortals 
Struck blind by lustre. 

5. 'Good is Jehovah in bestowing sun- shine. 
Nor less his goodness in the storm and 

thunder ; 
Mercies and judgments both proceed from 
kindness ; 

Infinite kindness. 

6. O then exult, that God forever reigneth 
Clouds, which around him hinder our per- 
ception. 

Bind us the stronger to exalt his name, an«i 
Shout louder praises ! 



33 

r. Then to the wisdom of my Lord aacl Mas.- 
ter, 
I will commit all that i have or wish for ; 
Sweetly as babes sleep will I give mv life up 
When cail'd to yield it. 

8. Now, Mais, I dare thee, clad in smoky pil- 

lars, 
Bursting fi^om bomb-shells, roaring from the 

cannon, 
Hattling In grape shot, like a storm of haiI-» 

stones, 

Torturing cether I 

9. Up the bleak heavens let the spreading fianies 

rise, 

Breaking like ^tna thro' the smoky col- 
umns, 
Low'ring like Egypt o'er the falling city, 
Wantonly burnt down. 

10. While all their hearts quick palpitate for 

havoc, 

Let slip your blood-hounds, namM the Brit- 
ish lions. 

Dauntless as death stares ; nimble as the 
whirlwind ; 

Dreadful as demons ! 

1 1. Let oceans waft on all your floating castles ; 
Fraught with destruction, horrible to nature I 
Then with your sails fiU'd by a storm of ven^ 

geance, 

Bear down to battk ! 
3 



34 

12. From the dire cavern made by ghostly mi- 

ners, 
Let the explosion, dreadful as volcanoes. 
Heave the broad town with all its wealth and 

people, 

Quick to destruction. 

13. Still shall the banners of the King of heaven 
Never advance v/here I'm afraid to follow : 
While that precedes me, with an open bosom, 

War, I defy thee. 

14. Fame and dear freedom lure me on to battle 
While a fell despot, grimmer than a death's 

head, 
Stings me with serpents, fiercer than Medu- 
sa's 

To the encounter. 

15. Life for my country, and the cause of free- 

dom. 
Is bat a trifle for a worm to part with ; 
And if preserved in so great a contest, 
Life is redoubled. 



The Death of Christ. 

He dies, the friend of sinners dies ! 

Lo, Salem's daughters w^eep around; 
A solemn darkness veils the sky, 

A sudden trembling shakes the ground, 



35 

Come, saints, and drop a tear or two 

Foi him who groanM beneath your load 5 

He shed a thousand drops for you, 
A thousand drops of richer blood. 

2. Here's love and grief beyond degree, 

The Lord of glory dies for man ; 
Bat, lo, v/hat sudden joys we see ; 

Jesus the dead revives again : 
The rising God forsakes the tomb, 

(The tomb in vain forbids his rise) 
Cherubic legions guard him home, 

And shout him welcome to the skies. 

3, Break off your tears, ye saints, ^nd tell 

How high your great deliverer reigns 
Sing how he spoil'd the host of hell, 

And led the monster, death, in chains ; 
Say, live forever, wond'rous king, 

Born to redeem, and strong to save ; 
Then ask the monster, where's thy sting. 

And where's thy victory, boasting grave ? 

JOB. 

that I were as in months past ! Chap. xxix. 
. Sweet was the time when first I felt 

The Saviour's pardoning blood 
Applied, to cleanse my soul from guilt 
And bring me home to God. 

. Soon as the morn the light reveal'd, 
His praises tun'd my tongue ; 



36 

And when the evening shades prcvaii'a 
His love Ww\s all my song 

3. In vdiin the tenapter spread his wiles, 

The world no more could charnn ; 
I liv'd upon my Saviour's smiles, 
And lean'd upon his arm. 

4. In prayer my soul drew near the Lprd.> 

And saw his ^lory shifie : 
And when I read his holy w.ord, 
1 caird each promise ni^inc. 

5. Then to his saints I often spoke, 

Of what his love had done ; 
But nov/ my heart is almost broke, 
For all my joys are gone. 

6. Now when the evening shade prevails^ 

My soul in darkness mourns : 
And when the morn the light revealsj. 
No light to me returns. 

7. My prayers are now a chattering noisC; 

For Jesus hides his face ; 
I read, the promise meets my eyes, 
But will not reach my case. 

S. Now Satan threatens to prevail, 
And make my soul his prey i 
Yet, Lord thy mercies cannot fail, 
O come without delay. 

T/ie Change, 
5 . Saviour shine and cheer my soul? 
Bid my dying hopes revive ; 



57 

Make vjy wounded spirits v/Iiole, 

Far away the tenij)ter drive : 
Speak the word and set me free. 
Let me live alone to thcc. 
.. Shall I sigh and pray in vain r 

Wilt thou still disdain to licar ■ 
Wilt Ihoii not return again ? 
^ Must I yield to black despair ? 
Thou hast taught nie how to pr?.y, 
Canst thou turn thy face a^vay ? 
o. Once I thought tny mountain strong. 

Firmly fix'd, no more to move ; 
Then thy grace was all my song, 

Then my soul was filled with love : 
Tliese were happy golden days, 
Sweetly spent in prayer and praise. 

4. When my friends have said "^ Beware, 

Soon or late you'll find a change :" 
I could see no cause for fear, 

Vain their caution seem'd and strange ; 
Not a cloud obscur'd my sky, 
Could I think a tempest iiigh ? 

5. Lktle then myself f knew, 
^Little thought oPSatan's power : 

Now I find their words were true. 

Now 1 feel the stormy hour ! 
Sorrow's clouds obscures my skv, 
Sadness now succeeds my joy. * 

6. Satan asks, and mocks my v/oe, 

^'Boaster, where is now your God r*' 
Silence, Lord, this cruel foe, 

Let him know Fm bought with blood ^ 
Tell him, since I know thy name, 
Thou in Love art stiJl the same. 



2 



38 

THE HIDING PL ICE. 

Composed bij a British OJJict'r. 

. H.4IL sovereign love that first began 
The scheme to rescue fallen man ; 
Hail matchless free eternal grace 
Which gave my soul a hiding place. 

Against the God who rules the sky, 
! fought with hands uphfted high : 
Despis'd the mansions of his grace, 
Too proud to seek a hiding place. 

3. En wrapt in dark Egyptian night, 
And fond of darkness more than light : 
Madly I ran the sinful race, 

Secure withowt a hiding place. 

4. But lo ! the eternal council ran, 
Almighty love arrest the man ; 
I felt the arrows of distress, 
And found I had no hiding place. 

5. Vindictive Justice stood in view, 
To Sinai's fiery mount I flew 5 

But Justice cried, with frowning face, 
This mountain is no hiding place. 

6. But lo ! a heavenly voice 1 heard, 
And Mercy's angel soon appear'd *, 
She led me on a pleasing pace, 

To Jesus as my hiding place. 

7. Should storms of sevenfold thunder roll, 
And shake this globe from pole to pole, 



39 

No thunder-bolls should daunt my face, 
For Jesus is my hiding place. 

8. On him Almighty vengeance fell, 

Which must have crushed a worm to hell, 
He bore it for his chosen race, 
And thus became my hiding place. 

8. A few more rolling suns at most 
Will land me on fair Canaan's coast, 
Where I shall find the songs of grace, 
And see my glorious hiding place. 

This do 171 remembrance of yne. 
GLORY to my dear Saviour, that seeks no 
greater return for all his labour of love, than a 
thankful remembrance of it at his table. Oh, 
should 1 grudge to give such a small return to him 
that suffered the pain of death and hell for me ! 
Had he bid me sacrifice my first born, and give 
all that I have to the poor, or go a pilgrimage to 
the Holy Land to visit his sepulchre, or go to the 
top of Mount Calvary, where the cross stood, as 
a token of thankfulness for his love, could I 
have refused it ? But he put me to no such task. 
Lord thou bidst me not go to a bloody scaffold to 
remember thee, but to a well covered table to do 
it. Thou bidst me not go there to bleed or burn 
for thee, but to eat and drink ; not the bread of 
afllictioo, or the water of adversity, but bread that 
strengthens the heart, and wine that cheers the 
drooping spirit, bread and wine thou hast sanctifi- 
ed and blessed for me. Surely^ O dear Saviour, 



40 

I. owe my life to thee, nay a thousand lives if I had 
them ; but it is not my life, but ni)^ memory and 
thoughts thou art calling for ; it is not to die for 
thee, but to remember thee. Didst thou drink the 
cup of wrath on the cross for me, and shall I not 
drink a cup of blessing at the table for thee, nay for 
myself, and my eternal salvation ? 

Let me go then to his holy table, with faith, love 
and thankfulness, to remember Christ and his dy- 
ing love ; as he commanded me. And while I re- 
member him, let me also receive and embrace him 
as my bleeding High Priest, in the arm.s of my 
iaith, and at the same time throw my guilty soul 
into his wounded arms, for saving me from wrath. 
Let me go and remember the w^ounding and pierc- 
ings of my Redeemer, with a pierced and wound- 
ed heart for those cursed sins, which nailed and 
killed the Prince of Life. Let me henceforth be 
the death of sin, which w^as the death of my dear 
Saviour, Oh, shall I suffer sin any longer in me, 
that would not suffer my Redeemer to live in this 
world ? 

1 . JESUS once for sinners slain, 
From the dead was rais'd again ; 
And in heaven is no(v sat down, 
With his Father on his throne. 

2. There be reigns a king supreme. 
We shall also reign with him ; 
Feeble souls be not dismay'd, 
Trust in his Almighty aid. 

3. He hath made an end of sin 

And his blood hath wash'd us clean ^ 



41 



Fear not, ke is ever near, 

Now, e'en now he's with us here. 



1. Thus assembling, we by fiuih, 
Till he come shew forth his deatii- 
Of his body, bread's the sign, 
And we drink his blood in wine. 

3. Bread thus broken aptly shows 
How his body God did bruise ; 
When tlie grape's rich blood we see. 
Lord we then remember thee. 

6. Saints on earth, and saints above. 
Celebrate hisdymg love, 
And let every ransom'd soul, 
Sound his praise from pole to pole. 

The glory of God in his works of creation^ provi- 
dence^ and redemption. 
My being im r.ediately flows from thee, and 
should I not praise my omnipotent Maker I I re- 
ceived the last breath I drew from thee, thou dost 
sustain my life this very moment, and the next de- 
pends entirely on thy pleasure. 'Tis the dignity 
of my nature to know, and my happiness to praise 
and adore my great Original. But oh ! thou Su- 
preme of all things, how art thou to be extolled by 
mortal man ! '* I say to corruption, thou art my 
father, and to the worms ye are my brethren.— 
My days are as a hand's -breadth, and my life is 
nothing before thee : but thou art mine, and thy 
years never fail. From everlasting to everlasting 
thou art God !" the incomprehensible, the immu- 



42 



table Bivmity. 1 he language of paradise, ancT 
tne strains of celestial eloquence, fall short of thy 
perfections ; the first- born sons of light lose them- 
se ves lu blissful astonishment in search of thy ex- 
cellencies ; even they, with silent ecstacy, adore 
thee, while thou art veiled with ineffable splendor, 
i he bright the blest Divinity is known, 
And coinpiehended by himself alone. 
Who can conceive the extent of that power, 
which out of nothing brought materials for a ri- 
amir world, and from gloomy chaos bid the har- 
monious universe appear ! 

Confusion heav'd the voice, and wild uproar 
Stood rul'd ; stood vast Infinity confin'd. 
At thy vyord the pillars of the sky were fram'd 
and Its beauteous arches raised ; thy breath kin- 
dled the stars, adorned the moon with silver rays, 
and gave the sun its flaming splendor. Thou 
didst prepare for the waters their capacious bed, 
and by thy power set bounds to the raging bil- 
lows : by thee the vallies were cloathed in their 
ilowery pride, and the mountains crowned with 
groves. Jn all the wonderful effects of nature we 
adore and confess thy power ; thou utterest thy 
voice m thunder, and dost scatte- lightning abroad, 
thou ridest on the wings of the wind, the mount- 
ains smoke, and the forests tremble at thy approach 
the summer and winter, the shady night, and the 
bright revolutions of the day are thine. 

These are thy glorious works, parent of good ; 

Almighty thine this universal frame ; 

Thus wond'rous they ; thyself how wond'rous then ' 



43 

But O what must thy essential majesty and 
beauty be, if thou art thus illustrious in thy v/ orks ! 
If the discoveries of thy power aad wisdom are 
thus delightful, how transporting are the maniles- 
tations of thy goodness ! From thee every thin^ 
that lives receives its breath, and by thee are all 
upheld in life. Thy providence reaches ihe least 
insect ; for thou art good, and thy care extends 
to all thy works. Thou feedest the ravens, and 
dost provide for the young lions their prey : Thou 
causest the rain to descend, and makest thy sun to 
rise on the evil and unthankful : for thou art good 
and thy mercy csdureth forever. 

A3 the creator and preserver of men, thou art 
gloriously manifest ; but, oh ! how much more 
gloriously art thou revealed, as reconciling un- 
grateful enemies to thyself by the blood of thy 
eternal Son ! Here thy beneficence displays its 
brightest splendor ; here thou dost fully discover 
thy most magnificent titles, the LORD, the LORD 
GOD, merciful and gracious, long suffering and 
abundant in goodness. *' How unsearchable are 
thy ways, and thy paths past finding !" Infinite 
depths of love never to be expressed by human 
language ! And yet, should man be silent, the 
stones themselves would speak, and the mute cre- 
ation find a voice to upbraid his ungrateful follv. 

I. THAT was a wonder working word, 
Which could the vast creation raise I 
Angels attendant on their Lord, 
Admir'd the plan and sung his praise. ^ 



.44 

-. From what a daik and shapeless nia^s, ' 
All nature sprang at his command 1 
Let there be light and light there was, 
And sun and stars and sea and land. 

3. With equal speed the earth and s:eas, 
Theirmigh'ry Maker's voice obey'"d; 
He spake, ai^d strait the plants and trees, 
And birds and beasts, and man were made. 

4. But man, the Lord and crown of all, 
By sin his honor soon defac'd ; 

His heart (how altered since the fall !) 
Is dark, deibrm'd, and void, and waste. 

5. The new creation of the soul, 
Does now no less his power display ; 
Than when he form'd the mighty whole, 
And kindled darkness mto day. 

6. Tho' self destroyed, O Lord, we are^ 
Yet let 113 feel what thou canst do ; 
Thy word the ruin can repair, 
And all our hearts create anew% 

TIic Storm* 
BUT what means that murmur ? Alas, a storm 
is coming on ; — God is bringing the winds out of 
his treasures ; — they rise higher stiil ; the trees 
feel their influence ; they shake, they bow their 
lofty heads : how their leaves and branches are 
scattered ! 'tis well if their crackling stumps es- 
cape an overthrow. But I expect a more awful 
appearance on the ocean. — Surprising ! more so 
than any scene that ever struck my alarmed eye. 



45 

See how die surges rise ! what mountainous bil- 
lows swell and roll ! what hideous caverns gape ! 
Sheets of WcUer are separated and carried to a dis 
tance ! flow do the waves lash yonder rocks 
How widely do they spread upon the more levc^ 
strand ! What will become of those little vessels 
which I saw a litde while ago sailing so smoothly 
upon that sea of glass r" amazing if they can live 
amidst so vast a confui=ion ! How will they climb 
those precipices f hov/ vrAl they emerge^ v*'hen bu- 
ried in those watery graves ? Se-e one poor bark 
as it were, hangs upon the broken wave. 

O how much is to be learned by a storm ! It 
is God that raised the stormy %vind, which lifteth 
up the waves of the sea ; they mount up to heav- 
en, they go down to the depths. How awful are 
the exhibitions of the Almighty ! What v/onders 
of judgment and mercy his word produces ! The 
stormy winds fulfil his word. O how drtadfui to 
fall into the hands of God, v*^ith whom h such ter 
rible majesty I Sinners may think lightly of hi;^ 
wrath, and dismiss the thought with an apprehenr 
sion that they shall be wise enough to escape, or 
hardy enough to ride out the raging blast : But, 
O that they did but see w^ith clearness, and consid- 
er with that seriousness, which the matter caU$ 
for I Dost thou, indolent, insolent sinner, imagine 
thou canst contend with God, or^cope with Omnip- 
otence ? Try thy powder in some smaller matters ; 
stop the sun in its rapid progress ; bring back the 
seasons and invert them ; bid the flowers spring 
up ia winter J or drive tlie severities of H^ost and 



418 

snow upon the harvest ; or do but command these 
winds to cease, which rage w^ith such impetuous 
fury. If thou canst not preserve thy body from 
dropping into the grave, and render it immortal, 
hov; canst thou keep thy soul from sinking into 
hell ? Docs many a hardy marhier who before 
seemed neither to fear God, or regard man, trem- 
llclike a leaf when shaken by the wind, and is he 
even at his wit's end in this tumult of the ocean ? 
vvhat then Vv^ill the sinner do, when God shall call 
forth all his wrath i and how will the now obdu- 
rate miscreant be able to stand when the whole 
storm of vengeance shall be sent against him, and 
heat on him with a fury and power which eye nev- 
er saw and heart never felt ? He may now like Le- 
viathan, laugh at the shaking of the spear, and the 
sword may be to him as rotten wood, when bran- 
dished in the threatenings of the Almighty; but 
when these threatenings come to be executed, 
and the spear enters into his very heart, and pier- 
ces his very marrow, whither, O whither wull he 
fly, or, how will he endure. 

But, blessed be God, there is a covert from 
such storms, sweet character of the blessed Re- 
deemer ! if none can abide the day of God^s 
wrath, when the cedars of Lebanon are torn from 
their roots, and the rocks are throvv^n down before 
him, hide me, O hide me ; with uplifted hands, 
a melted heart, and flowing eyes, I intreat thee 
hide me in the hollov/ of thy hand, in thy suffer- 
ing ^nd bleedinj:^' heart. Do the birds of the air, 
and the beasts of the field from an instinct of na- 



47 

ture, foresee the approaching shower, and inatce 
haste to the retreat f let my hopes waft me on 
wings of faith to thy blessed self^ who callest thy- 
self a hiding place from the wind, and a covert 
from the tempest. 

1 . THO' the morn may be serene, 
No threatening clouds be seen ; 
Who can undertake to say 
'Twill be pleasant all the day ? 
Tempests suddenly may rise; 
Darkness overspread the skies ! 
Lightnings flash, and thunders ri^ar. 
Ere a short liv'd day be o*er. 

2. Often thus the child of grace, 
Enters on his Christian race ; 
Guilt and fear have overborne, 
'Tis with him a summer's morn ; 
W hile his new felt joys abound, 
All things seem to smile around : 
And he hopes it will be fair, 

All the day, and all the year. 

3. Should we warn him of a change, 
He would think the caution strange ^ 
He no change nor trouble fears, 
Till the gathering storm appears, 
Till dark clbuds his sun conceal, 
Till temptation's power he feel ; 
Then he trembles, and looks pale. 
All his hopes and courage fail. 

4. But the wonder workmg Lord, 
Sooths the tempest by his word I 



48 

Sliiis the ihuncler, stops the rain, 
And his sun breaks forth again ; 
Soon the cloud again returns. 
Now he joys now he mourns ; 
Oft his sky is overcast, 
Ere the day of life be past. 

5. Try'd believers too can say. 

In the course of one short day, 
Tho* the morning has been so fair, 
Proved a golden hour of prayei^^ 
Sin and Satan, long ere night, 
Have their comforts put to flight ; 
Ah ! what heart felt peace and joy 
Unexpected storms destroy. 

6. Dearest Saviour, call us soon 
To thine high eternal noon ^ 
Never there shall tem-pests rise 
To conceal thee from our eyes : 
Satan shall no more deceive, 
We no more thy Spirit grieve 5 
But through coui\tIess, endless days, 
Sound, to golden harpsj thy praise. 

THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST. 

, WHEN Israel's tribe were parch'd with thirst. 
Forth from the rock the waters burst ; 
And all their future journey through, 
Yielded them drink and gospel too. 

. In Moses' rod a type they saw : 
Of his severe and fiery law, 
The smitten rock prefigured him, 
From whose pierc'd side all blessings stream. 



49 

y, B'ut ah 1 the types were all too fdiutj 
His sorrows or his worth to pcsint : 
Slight was the stroke of ISIoses' rod, 
But he endur'd the wrath of Gcd. 

4. Their outward rock could i^et) noprin. 
But our's was wounded torn and slain ; 
The lock gave but a wal'ry flood, 
But Jesus pour'd forth streams of blocc]. 

5 The earth is like a wilderness, 
A land of drought and sore distress ; 
Without one stream iron? pole to pole? 
To satisfy a thirsty soul. 

6. But let the Saviour's praise resound. 
In hinr) refreshing streams are found, 
Which pardon, strength, and comfort give. 
And thirsty sinners drink and live. 

MARTHA AND MARY. 

1. MARTHA her love and joy expressed, 
By care to entertain her guest ; 
While Mary sat to hear her Lord, 

And could not bear to lose a word, 

2. The principle in both the same, 
Produc'd in each a diff'rent aim ; 
The one to fear the Lord was led, 
The other v/aited to be fed. 

3. But Mary chose the better part, 

Her Saviour's words refreshed her heart j 
While busy Martha an gry^ grew, 
And lost her time and temper too. 
4 



50 

4. With vvarmih she to her sister spoke* 
But brou.qht upon herself rebuke : 
*" Que thing is needful, and but one, 
Why do thy thoughts on many run ?" 

". How oft are we like Martha vex'd, 
Encumber'd, hurried, and perplex'd ? 
While trifles so engross our thought, 
The one thing needful is forgot. 

G. Lord, teach us this one thing to choose. 
Which they who gain need never lose; 
Sufficient in itself alone. 
And needful, were the world our own* 

7. Let grov'ling hearts the world admire. 
Thy love is all that I require 1 
Gladly I may the rest resign, 
If the one needful thing be mine. 

An Elegy on Sophronia^ rvho died xv'ith the SmalU 

Pox, ITll. 

By Dr. ^^ aits. 

So/ihron is introduced sficaking* 

FORBEAR, my friends, forbear, and ask no more, 

Where all my cheerful airs are fled : 
Wliy will ye make me talk my torments o'er ? 
My joy, my life, my comfort's dead. 

Deep from my soul, mark how the sobs arise, 
Hear the long groans that vv^aste my breath,- 

And read ths mighty sorrow in my eyes, 
Lovely Sophronia sleeps in death. 

Unkind disease, to vail that rosy facc 
With tunsors of a mortal pale ; 



51 

Willie iTiOrtal purples, %vit]i Xhe\v dismal grace.. 
And double horrors spot the vail. 

Uncomely vail, and most unkind disease I 

Is this Sophronia, once the fair ? 
Are these the ft^atures that were born lo please I 

And beauty spread her ensign there ? 

I was all love, .and she was all delight, 

Let me run back to seasons past ; 
Ah ! fiowery days when first she charm'd my sights 

But I'oses will not always last* 

Yet still Sophronia pleas'd. Nor time nor care 
Could lake her youthful bloom away : 

Virtue has charms w'hich nothing can impair: 
Beauty like her's could ne'er decay. 

Grace is a sacred plant of heavenly birth ; 

The seed, descending from above, 
Roots in a soil refin d, grows high on earih, 

And bSooms with life? and joy, and love. 

Such v/as Sophronia's soul. Celestial dew^ 

And angeFs food, were her repast r 
Devoiion was her w^ork, and thence she drew 

Delights which strangers never taste. 

NottliC gay splendours of a flatt'ring court: 
Could tempt her to appear and shine : 

Ilcr solemn airs forbid the world's resort .: 
But I v^'as blest, and she was mine. 

Safe on hc'r welfare all my pleasures hung, 
Her smiles could all my pains control ; 
Her soul v/as made of softness, and her tongue 

-V^i^H soil and gentle ?«$ her soiiL 



O'Z 



8he was nu- guide, my iViendi my canhly all ; 

Love grew with every waning moon ; 
li'dd lieaven a length of years delayed ils call, 

Slili I had thought it call'd too soon. 

But peace, my sorrows, nor with murnniring voice 

Dare to accuse heaven's liigh decree : 
She v/as first ripe for everlasting joys ; 

Sophron, she waits above for thee. 

A common cccurrence vicralized. 
AS Theophron, one evening was sitting solita- 
ry by the fire, which was sunk low, and glimmer- 
ing in ashes, he mused on the sorrows that sur- 
rounded human nature, and beset the spirits that 
d'vveli in flesh. By chance he cast his eyes on a 
w^orm which w^as lodged on the safer end of a 
short fire brand : It seemed very uneasy at its 
WMrm station, writhing and stretching itself every 
way for relief. He watched the creeping creature 
la all its motions. ''•I saw it (said he, v/hen he 
told this Incident to Phiemus) reach forward and 
there it met the living coal ; backv/ard, and on 
each side, and then it touched the burning embers. 
Still starting from the prtsent torment, it retreated 
and shrunk a\vay from every place where it had 
just before sought a refuge, and still met with new 
disquietude and pain. 

^'' At last I observed (said he) that having turn- 
ed on all sides in vain, it lifted its head upward, 
and raised its length as high as possible in the air, 
where it found nothing to annoy it ; but the chief 
part of the body still lay prone on the wood ; its 
lower or worser half hung heavy on the aspiring 



53 

animal, and forbid itis ascent. Ilovv happy would 
the worm have been, could it then have put on 
wings and become a Sying insect ! 

^' Such (says he) is the case of every holy soul 
on earth; it is out of its proper element like the 
worm lodged amon^ hot embers. The uneasy 
spirit is sometimes ready to stretch its pow:ers, its 
desires and wishes on every side, to find rest and 
happiness among sensible good ; but these things 
instead of satisfying its noble appetites, rather give 
some new pain, variety of vexation, and everlas- 
ting disappointment. The soul finding every ex- 
periment vain, retires and shrinks backward from 
all mortal objects, and being touched with divine 
influence, it raises itself up towards heaven to seek 
its God ; but the flesh, the body, the meaner or 
worser half of the man, hangs heavy, and drags it 
down again, that it cannot ascend thither where 
rest and ease are only to be found. 

'' What should such a soul do now^ but pant and 
long hourly for a flight to the upper world, and 
breathe after the moment of its release ? — Vi'hat 
would be more joyful to such a spirit, than the di- 
vine and almighty summons to depart from flesh ? 
O blessed voice from heaven, that^shall say to it, 
" Come up hither ;" and in the same instant shall 
break off all its fetters, give it wings of an angel, 
and iuvspire it with double zeal to ascend !'* 

Beath and JudgmenU 
1. YE virgin souls arise, 

With all the dead awake 5 
Unto salvation wise. 

Oil in your vessels take ; 



Upstaitiiii^- at the midnighl cry, 

Behold your heav'iily Bridegroom ni^^h. 

2, He comes, he comes to call, 

The nations to his bur, 
And takes to glory all, 

Who meet for glory are ; 
Make ready for your free reward ; 
Go forth with joy to meet your Lord. 

3.^ Go meet him in the sky, 
Your everlasting friend ; 
Your head to glorify, 

V/ith all his saints ascend : 
Ye pure in heart, obtain the grace,. 
To see, without a veii, his face. 

4. Then let us wait to hear, 

The trumpet's welcome sound ; 
To see the Lord appear, 

Watching may we be found ! 
With that bless'd wedding robe endu'(^, 
The blood and righteousness of God. 

The vjearisome Weeks of Sickne^ss. 

BY DR. y/ATTS. 

THUS pass my days away. The cheerful sun 
Rolls round and gilds the world with lightsome beams^ 
Alas in vain to me : cut off alike 
From the bless'd labours, and the joys of hfe : 
While my sad minutes in their tiresome train 
Serve but to number out my heavy sorrows. 
By night I count the clock ; perhaps eleven., 
Qr twel ve, or one ^ then with a wishful sigh 



55 

Call on tlie lingering hours. Come two, come five : 
When v/ill the day4ight come ? Make haste ye movh- 

Ye evening shadows haste ; wear out these days, 

These tedious rounds of sickness, and conclude 

The weary week forever.— 

Then the sweet day of sacred rest returns 

Sweet day of rest, devote to God and Heaven 

And heavenly business, purposes divine. 

Angelic work ; but not to me returns 

Rest with the day : Ten thousand hurrying thoughts 

Bear me away tumultuous far from heaven, 

And heavenly work. In vain J heave and toil, 

And wrestle with my inward foes in vain, 

0*erpowerM and vanquished still : They drag mc down 

From things celestial, and confine my sense 

To present maladies. Unhappy state, 

Where the poor spirit is subdu'd t' endure 

Unholy idJeness; a painful absence 

From God and heaven, and angels* blessed work,* 

And bound to bear the agonies and woes 

That sickly flesh and shattered nerves impose. 

How long, O Lord, Low long ! 



A Hymn of Praise for Recovery. 
HAPPY the mar^, that the slow circling moons 
And long revolving seasons measure out 
The tiresome pains of nature ! Present woes 
Have their sweet period. Ease and cheerful healtti 
Whhslow approach (so Providence ordains) 
Revisits their forsaken mansions here, 
And days of useful life diffuse their dawns 
O'er the dark cottage of my weary soul. 
My vital powers resume their vigour now. 



56 

My spirit keh Iicr d'cedom, shakes her wincvs, 

Exults and 'xpatiates o'er a Ihcusand f:cei cb. 

Surveys the world, and with full strength of dio't 

Gi^asps her ideas : v/hile inip^xtient zeal 

Awakes my tongue to praise. What mortal voice 

Or mortal hand can render to mv God 

The tribute due I What altars shali I raise ? 

What grand inscriptions to proclaim his mercy 

In living lines ! Where shall i find a victim 

Meet to be offered to his sovereign love, 

And solemnize the worship and the joy. 

Search well, my souK thro' all the dark recesses 

Of nature and self love, the plies, the folds, 

And hollow winding caverns of the heart, 

\V here flattery hides our sins ; search out the foes 

Of thy Almighty Friend ; what lawless passions, 

What vain desires, what vicious turns of tho't 

Lurk there unheeded : bring them out to view, 

And sacrifice the rebels to his honor. 

Well he deserves this worship at thy hands, 

Who pardons thy past follies, who restores 

Thy mouldering fabric, and withholds thy life 

From the near borders of a gaping grave. 

Almighty power I love the^rblissful name. 

My healer God ; and my inmost heart 

Love and adore forever ; O 'tis good 

To wait submissive at thy holy throne, 

To leave petitions at thy feet, and bear 

Thy frowns and silence with a patient soul. 

Thy hand of mercy is not short to save, 

Nor is the ear of heavenly pity deaf, 

To mortal cries. It noticed all my groans, 

And sighs and long complaints, with wise delay 

The' painful to the sufferer, and thy hand 

^n proper moment brought desir'd relief. 



57 

Rise from n^y couch, ye late enfeebled limbs, ^ 

Prove your uew strength, and shew th' effected skill 

Of your diviue physician : bear away 

This tottering body to his sacred threshold : 

There laden wiih his honors, letnae bow 

Before his feet : let me pronounce his grace, 

Pronounce salvation through his dying Son, 

And teach this -j.nful world the Saviour's name, 

Then rise, my hymiiing soul, on holy notes 

Toward his holy throne : awake, my choicest songs. 

Run echoing round the roof, and while you pay 

The solemn vows of my distressful hours, 

A thousand friendly lips shall aid the praise, 

Jesus, great advocate, whose pitying eye 

Saw my long anguish, and with melting heart 

And powerful intercessions spread'st my woes 

With all my groans before the Father-God, 

Bear up my praises now ; thy holy incense 

Shall hallow all my sacrifice of joy. 

And bring these accents grateful to his ear. 

My heart and life, my lips and every power 

Snatch'd from the grasp of death I here devote 

By thy bless'd hands an offering to his name. 

The Vision of Mirza. 
On the fifth day of the moon, which, according 
to the custom of my forefathers, I always keep ho- 
ly^ after having washed myself, and offered my 
morning devotions, I ascended the high hills or 
Bagdat, in order to pass the rest of the^ day in 
meditation and prayer. As 1 was here airing my- 
self on the tops of the mountains^ I fell into a pro- 
found contemplation on the vanity of human life ; 
and passing from one thought to another, surelj^ 



wu-/' r^'^" '' ^""^ ^ shac!o^v-, and life a dream 

^* .^ilst I ivas thus musing, I cast my eyes towards 

a summit of a rocl: that was not far from me, where 

1 discovered one in the habit of a shepherd with 

a little musical instrument in his hand. As I look • 

ed upon him, he applied it to his lips, and began 

to p.ay upon it. The sound of it was exceedtn« 

sweet, and wrought a variety of tunes that were in^ 

expressibly melodious, and altogether diffcre.-t 

from any thing I had ever heard : they put me in 

miml ot those heavenly airs that are played to the 

departed souls ot >od men upon their first arri- 

ya! m i aradise, to wear out the impressions of the 

Jast agonies, and qualify them for the pleasures of 

that happy place. My heart melted away in se- 

cret raptures, 

I had often been told that the rodfc before me 
was the haunt cf a genius; and that several had 
been entertained with that music, who had passed 
fty It, but never heard that the musician had be- 
fore made h.m.elf visible. When he had raised 
my thoughts by those transporting airs which he 
Playea, to taste the pleasures of his coversation. 
as 1 looked upon him. like one astonished, he 
beckoned to me, and by the waving of his hand 
mrected me to approach the place where he sat — 
I drew near with that reverence which is due to 
superior natures, and as my heart was entirely 
subdued by the captivating strains I had heard, I 
icll down at his feet and wept. The genius smil- 
ed upon me with a look of compassion and affabil- 
ity that famdiari^ed him to my imagination, and 



59 

at once dispelled all the fears and apprehension^ 
with which I approached him. He lifted me froru 
the ground, and taking me by the hand, ** Slirza.'' 
said he " I have heard thee in thy soliloquies : 
follow me." 

He then led me to the highest pinacle of the 
rock, and placing me on the top of it, '' Cast thy 
eyes eastward (said he) and tell me what thou 
seest." " J see (said I) a huge valley, and a pro- 
digiours tide of w^ater rolling through it.'* *^ The 
valley tbou seest, (said he) is the vale of misery, 
and the tide of v/ater thou seest is part of the 
tide of eternity." What is the reason, said f, 
that the tide rises out of a thick mist at one end, 
and again looses itself in a thick mist at the other f 
What thou seest, said he, is that portion of eter- 
nity which is called time meastired out by the sun, 
and reaches from the beginnmg of the world to 
its consummation. Examine now, said he, this sea 
that is bounded with darkness at both ends, and 
tell me what thou discoverest in it ? I see a bridge 
said I, standing in the midst of the tide. The 
bridge thou seest, said he, is human life ; con- 
sider it attentively. Upon a more leisurely sur- 
vey of it, I found that it consisted of threescore 
and ten entire arches, with several broken arches^ 
which added to those which were entire, made up 
th« number about an hundred. As I was count- 
ing the arches, the genius told me the bridge con- 
sisted at first of a thousand arches ; but that a 
great flood swept away the rest, and left the bridge 
in the ruinous condition I now beheld it ; but tell 



60 

me further said he what thou discoverest on it ? 
I see multitudes of people passing over, it said I, 
and a black cloud hanging on each end of it. — 
As I looked more attentively, I saw several of the 
people dropping thro' the bridge, into the great 
tide that flowed underneath it ; and I saw innum- 
erable trap- doors that lay concealed in the bridge, 
which the passengers no sooner trod upon, but 
ihey fell through into the tide, and immediately 
disappeared. These hidden pit- falls were set ve- 
ry thick at the entrance of the bridge, so that 
throngs of people no sooner broke thro' the cloud 
than many of them fell into them. They grew 
thinner towards the middle, but multiplied and 
lay closer together tow^ards the end of the arches 
that were entire. There v/ere indeed some per- 
sons, but their number was very small, that con- 
tinued a kind of hobbling march on the broken ar- 
ches but fell through one after another, being 
quite tired and spent v/ith so long a walk. 

I passed some time in the contemplation of this 
wonderful strueture, and the great variety of ob- 
jects which it presented. My heart v/as filled with 
a deep melancholy to see several dropping unex- 
pectedly in the midst of mirth and jollity, and 
catching at every thing that stood by them to save 
themselves. Some v/ere looking up to heaven in 
a thoughtful posture, and in the midst of supplica- 
tion stumbled and fell out of sight. Multitudes 
were very busy in the pursuit of bubbles that glit- 
tered in their eyes and danced before them ; but 
often when they thought themselves within i:«each 



61 

ot them, their fooling failed them, and down they 
sank. In this confusion of objects I observed 
some with scimitars in their hands, others witii 
urinals, who ran to and fro upon the bridge, thrus- 
ting several persons on the-trapdoors which did 
not seem to lie in their v/ay, and which they might 
have escaped, had they not been thus forced up- 
on them. ^ 

The genius seeing me indulge mvself in this 
melancholy prospect, told me I had dwelt long 
enough upon it. Take ihiu^ tye olT the bridge, 
said he, and tell if thou seest any thing thou dost 
not comprehend. Upon looking up, What mean, 
said I, those great flights of birds that are perpet^ 
ually hovering about the bridge, and settling- upoa 
it from time totim,e? Isee vultures, harpies, ravens^ 
corm.orants, and among many other feathered cre^v 
tures, several lltde lyinged boys, that nerch unon 
the middle arches in great numbers. These, said 
the genius, are envy, avarice, siip<^rstition, des^ 
pair, love, with the like cares and possions, that 
infest human life. 

I here fetched a deep sigh ; Alas ! said J, man 
was made m vam ! how is he given away to mise> 
ry and mortality ! tortured in life, and swallowed 
up m death ! The genius being moved with com- 
passion towards me, bid me quit so uncomfortable 
a prospect. Look no more, said he. on man in 
the first stage of his existence, in his setting ou: 
for eternity ; But cast thine eye on that thick iri^t 
into which the tide bears the several generations 
of mortals that fall into it. I directed my sight 



62 

Us 1 was ordered, and (whether or no the good 
genius strengthened it with any supernatural force^ 
or dissipated part of the mist that was before too 
thick for the eye to penetrate) I saw the valley 
opening at the farther end, and spreading forth in- 
to an immense ocean, that had a huge rock of ad- 
amant running through the midst of it, and divi- 
ding it in two equal parts. The clouds still rest- 
ed on one half thereof, insomuch that 1 could dis- 
cover nothing in it : but the other appeared to me 
a vast ocean, planted with innumerable islands, 
that were covered with fruits and flowers, and in- 
terwoven with a thousand little shining seas that 
ran among them* I could see persons dressed in 
glorious habits with garlands upon their heads, 
passing among the trees, lying down by the sides 
€>f fountains, or reclining on beds of flowers ; and 
x^ould hear a confused harmony of singing birds, 
falling waters, human voices, and musical instru- 
ments. Gladne.ss grew in me upoo the discovery 
-of so deliglitf.il a scene. I wi- hed for the wings 
of an eagle that I might fly away to those happy 
?^eats 5 but the genius told m« there v/as no passage 
to them, except through the gates of death that i 
saw opening every moment upon the bridge. The 
islands, said he, that lie so fresh and green before 
thee, and with v/hich the whole of the ocean ap- 
Tjears spotted as far as thou canst see, are njore in 
number than the sands of the sea sliorc ; there are 
myriads of i-lands behind those which j*ou here 
discoverest, reaching i'arther than thine eye, or 
ry^Mathe im.iev^^^ation can extend itself, Tiaese ar^- 



63 

the mansions of good men after death, who ac- 
cording to the degrees and kinds of virtue in v/hkh 
they excelled, are distributed among these several 
islands, which abound with pleasure of different 
kinds and degrees, suitable to the relishes and per- 
fections of those who are settled in them ; every 
island is a paradise accommodated to its respect- 
ive inhabitants. Are not these, O Mirza, habita^ 
tions worth contending for ? Does life appear mis- 
erable, that gives thee opportunities of earning 
such a reward ? Is death to be feared that will con- 
vey thee to so happy an existence ? Think not 
man wa^ made in vain, who has such an eternity 
reserved for him. I gazed with inexpressible 
pleasure on those happy islands. At length, said 
I, shew me now I beseech thee, the secrets that lie 
bid under those dark clouds which cover the ocead 
on the other side of the rock of adamant. The 
genius making nre no answer, 1 turned about to 
address myself to him a second time, but 1 found 
he had left me : i then turned again to the vision 
which I had been so long contemplating; but in» 
stead of the rolling tide, the arched bridge, and 
the happy islands, I saw nothing but the long hol- 
low valley of Bagdat, vvdth oxen, sheep, and cam- 
els, grazing upon the sides of it. 

The Vision of Amanda* 
Methought I was walking through a delightful 
field from whence on a rising hill J beheld a state- 
ly edifice. My curiosity led me to mak^ up to- 
wards it* I found it surrounded with gardens 



64 

and orchards, richly decked by nature and art. A 
most agreeable lady was standing at the door, who 
very courteously invited me \n to set down and 
rest me : being tired with the hill 1 accepted her 
kind offer. — ^Entering the house, i surveyed the 
magnificent apartments, and my eyes were daz- 
zled with the rich furniture that adorned ever}^ 
room. The lady led me into a spacious parlci>r^ 
where was a very comely gentleman, with several 
little beauties around hisi, the living pictures in 
miniature of the father and mother. 1 w^as enter- 
tained there w^ith a liberality suitable to the ap- 
pearance they made, and with that courteous afFa- 
bility, which is the genuine effect of true gentility 
and good breeding. Whilst wath pleasure I sur- 
veyed their happy circumstances, which appeared 
to have no want of any thing to complete their fe- 
licity, I said within myself; Surely these are ex- 
traordinary persons, and this flow of prosperity 
must b^ the bountiful reward of Providence, for 
some eminent instance of virtue and piety. But 
when I h^d taken my leave, and w^as returning, I 
met one, of whom I enquired the gentleman's char- 
acter who was owuer of yonder s^at ; v/hich, to my 
no small surprise; I found to be very vicious* — 
His plentiful estate was gotten by oppression and 
fraud, his beautiful children w^ere the living mon- 
uments of his shame, and the lady who made so 
splendid an appearance, and to whom he discover- 
ed so much seeming tenderness, was so far from 
being mistress of the seat, that she was only kept 
there as under a tyrant, to be a slave to his base 



65 

lusts, he consulted her satisfaction no farther tkaa 
as the pleasure in her countenance heightens her 
charms, and thereby renders her the more agreea- 
ble to him m the gratification of his brutish appe- 
tites and passions ; and she, continued my inform- 
er, puts a constant force upon herself to appear gay 
and cheerful, lest her keeper should turn her out, 
abandoned to shame and misery. To preserve her 
from the latter of which (after the loss of a good 
fortune) was she prevailed on to comply with the 
lot she shares. As soon as I parted with my com- 
pany, I could contain no longer, but burst out in- 
to this exclamation : Wherefore, Prosperity, is it 
that thou daily loadest the vicious with thy bene- 
fits and givest them all that heart can wish ! — 
Whence comes it to pass, that such a wretch as 
this shall spend his days in eastj, and his nights in 
pleasure, whilst thou turnest aAvay in disdain from 
the pious man, leaving him to groan under all the 
hardships of the most adverse state ! O say, why 
is it that thou art partial to the wicked ? I had no 
sooner ceased speaking in this manner, than look- 
ing forward, I saw Prosperity standing before me 
arrayed in her most georgeous attire. The gav 
and glittering appearance must have raised delight 
in my breast, had it not been damped by the an- 
ger that appeared on her bro\T when she thus ad- 
dressed me. Forbear tasking me with partialitv 
in my proceedings ; for were it in my inclination, 
it is not in my power, being only the servant of 
Providence, whose orders 1 never, in one single 
instance, run counter to. Art thou, said I, in a 

5 



66 

heat, the servant of Providence ? a just, holv, wise, 
and powerful Providence ! And will it suffer ihee 
thus to caress the impious, and slight and condemn 
the good ! How can these things be ! Prosperity 
disappeared v/ithout making any reply | but im- 
mediately a resplendent light shone around me, 
and I heard a majestic voice calling thus to me 
from above, O thou blind mortal, dost thou dare 
to call in question my proceedings^ because thou 
canst not see the wisdom and equity of them ? It 
would be just in me to punish thee severely for 
thy rashness, but for once 1 will overlook thy ig- 
norance, and so far condescend to thy weakness as 
to give thee some view of the reasons of my con- 
duct. Wherefore life up thine eyes, and behold 
what I shall discover to thee. I did so, and found 
my sight strengthened to penetrate the thick clouds, 
beyond which i saw Providence seated en a lofty 
throne, and by him stood Prosperity and Adversi- 
ty, with their various attendants, waiting his or- 
ders. A person of a very amiable countenance 
stood at my right hand, who told me he was com- 
missioned to resolve my doubts, and reveal some- 
what of the mysteries of Providence to me. 1 
strait observed Adversity ordered with her attend- 
ant,. Pain, to such a place, I looked after them, 
and saw them ejnter the house of a person very re- 
markable for piety, and attack him in a most vio- 
lent manner. Alas ! said I to my instructor, 
whence comes it to pass that so good a man as this 
should be so severely handled ! He is, replied he^ 
a very eminent Christian, a man greatly beloved 



67 

of his God. But how contrary soever this ma} 
seem to your carnal reason, it is therefore that he 
is thus afflicted ; he has, as the best here have, 
much sin still remaining in him, and much want- 
ing to complete his perfection in grace and holi- 
ness : and God, who is alone the proper judge of* 
the most likelv- means to bring about his own wise ' 
and kind designs, sees this the fittest method to 
root out sin, and strengthen and invigorate his gra- 
ces. This afiiiction shall be to him a furnace, not 
to consume him, but his lusts, and to refine and 
brighten his graces, that they may shine with 
greater lustre. I then looked up again, and saw 
Adversity, with two of her attendants, Poverty and 
Sickness, sent to another place. They soon at- 
tacked a person., who from an affluent fortune was 
reduced to penury and want, and from a strong 
and vigorous state of health, was thrown upon a 
sick bed. Pray, said I, what is the character of 
this person, that, is thus doubly attacked, and with 
such violence ? lie is, replied my instructor, one 
that devoted himself to God in the days of his 
youth, and appeared very zealous and active in 
the ways of religion, at his first setting out. But 
along series of prosperity, wdth w^hich he has been 
favored, has had thr but too common effect of en- 
snaring and captivating his thoughts and affections 
to the things of time and sense. As riches increas- 
ed, he has set his heart inordinately upon them, 
and in a great measure withdrawn his dependance 
upon God for the continuation of those bounties of 
Providence, grown careless and secure, saying 



68 



With David, My mountain stands stron^r • J shall 
never be n:oved. Poverty is therefore sent to 
waste h,s substance, that the idol being removed 
he may be no longer tempted to adore i^, a^dlhat 
he mayoynis own experience, be convinced of 
• the uncertainty of sublunary good. A Ion;, con- 
tinued s;.ate oi health has abated his sense of the 
value or t!ie mercy, and he has seemed to slight it 
as a common favour. Sickness U therefore sent 
to reacn him the worth of health, by the want of 
u; to saocK tnis seemmg strong building, that he 
may see its foundation is in the dust, and that it is 
a moth crushed in the hand of God. In a word 
these painrul strokes shall be the means of rousin;^ 
hmi out of that spiritual lethargy wherein he has 
so long lam, and cause him to remember whence 
he IS fallen, excite him to repent, and do his first 
works J and when these most valuable ends are 
answered, God will turn his captivity, and remark- 
ably display his power and love in his deliver- 
ance. Again ! looked up, and heard Adversity 
cahed to receive a nev/ commission, to attack 
a person who appeared in sight. Pray, said I, to 
what person are these formidable spectres going ? 
(for their appearance shocked me more tiian all 
the others.) He is, said my teacher, a very seri- 
ous good man, one that has for many years been 
universally esteemed among those who are true 
friends to religion and virtue, both for his wisdom 
and piety ; but this general regard paid to him 
has too much elevated his mind, and he has here- 
by been pu-ffed up with self applause ; not duly 



69 

considering that whatever endowments he posses- 
ses, whether of nature or of grace, are all received 
from God, and therefore all the glory should be 
ascribed to the donor. Reproach is now sent to 
humble him, to hide pride from his eyes, to make 
him fully sensible that the interest that any have 
in man's esteem is a blessing which descends from 
the same hand that dispenses those qualifications 
that have a tendency to raise it. Soon after I lif- 
ted up my eyes again, and saw Adversity with her 
attendants, Sickness and Death, receiving their 
orders to seize the child of a certain person. Now, 
says my instructor, this is a sincere Christian, and 
the stroke to be inflicted is perhaps the sorest of a 
temporal nature that could befal him. He is to 
be stript of an only child, and a very promising 
one, in whom the fond parent might justly please 
himself with the prospect of much comfort and 
satisfaction ; and like Jacob, his life seems to be 
bound up in the lad's life. But Providence, in 
much wisdom and goodness, orders his removal ; 
in kindness both to parent and child ; the lad bo- 
ing by the grace of God prepared for a better state, 
is in great love removed from all the snares and 
trials that would surround him in his riper age : 
a more than common share of which must have fal- 
len to his lot had he continued in this w^orld. The 
parent will be hereby convinced of, and humbled 
for the evil he has been guilty of in setting his 
iieart and affections too much on this so desirable 
a creature, enjoyment which he sees now to be but 
a fadnig, dying flower. And the supports and 



70 

comforts he shall receive under this heavy trial 
will stop the mouth of complaints, and force him 
to confess that God is alone the proper object of 
our warmest affection, since there is enough in him 
to make the Christiam happy in the loss of the 
dearest earthly comforts. These, (continued my 
teacher) are some of the seeming paradoxes in 
Providence, which thou, blind mortal, couldst not 
discover by the dim light of reason ; there are 
others which I am not permitted to reveal to thee; 
some of which thou wilt never see unravelled 
whilst thou art clothed with mortality. Let what 
ihou hast seen and heard suffice to assure thee, 
that God's thoughts are not like to thine, but as 
far above them in wisdom, as the heavens are 
above the earth. Hence it is, that the wicked, so 
often abound with this world's good, who have 
all their heaven here : whilst the pious mati is, by 
the sharps attacks of Adversity, during the short 
term of his existence here, training up for a state 
of endless, unalloyed happiness. I thanked my 
instructor, begged pardon for my rashness, and 
promised that 1 would no more arraign Divine 
Providence at the bar of my weak and shallow 
reason ; and abashed and confounded at my igno- 
rance and presumption, awoke from my dream. 

Good Friday. 
J . 'Tis done ! the atonin.e; work is done ! 
Jesus, the world's Redeemer, dies I 
All nature feels the important groan, 
Loud echoing through the earth and skieso 



71 

The earth dolh to her centre quake, 
And heaven as heirs deep gloom is black ! 

2. The temple's vail is rent in twain 

While Jesus meekly bows his kead 5 
The rocks resent his mortal pain. 

The yawning graves give up their dead ; 
The bodies of the saints arise, 
Reviving as their Saviour dies. 

3. And shall not we his death partake. 

In sympathetic anguish groan ? 
O Saviour ! let thy passions shake 

Our earth, and rend our hearts of stone I 
To second life our souls restore, 
And wake us that we sleep no more, 

T/i€ Pilgrim. 

1. Jesus, at thy command, 

I launch into the deep ; 
And leave my native land. 
Where sin lulls all asleep : 
For Thee I fain would all resign, 
And sail to heaven with ihee and thine. 

2. What tho' the seas are broad, 

What tho' the waves are strong, 
AVhat tho' tempestuous winds 

Distress me all along 5 
Yet what are seas or stormy wind, 
Compar'd to Christ, the sinner's friend. 

3. Christ is my Pilot wise, 

My compass is his word : 
My soul each storm defies, 
While I have such a Lord y 



72 

I trust his faithfulness aacl power. 
To save me in the dying hour. 

4. Though rocks and quicksands deep 

Through all my passage lie: 
Yet Christ shall safely keep 

And guide me with his eye. 
How can I sink with such a prop, 
That bears the world and all things up. 

5. By faith I see the land, 

The heaven of endless rest ; 
My soul, thy wings expand, 

And fly to Jesus' breast. 
Oh may I reach the heavenly shere, 
Where winds and seas distress no more 

6. When e'er becalmed I lie. 

And all my storms subside. 
Then to my succour fly, 

And keep me near thy side ; 
For more the treach'rous calm I dread, 
Than tempests bursting o'er my head. 

7. Come, heavenly wind, and blow 

A prosperous gale of grace, 
To waft from all below 

To heaven my destined place : 
Then in full sail my port I'll find. 
And leave the world and sin behind. 



Religion. 
THE light of nature, duly attended to, will 
evidently lead us into belief of a Supreme Being, 
infinitely holy, powerful, just and good, the crea- 
tor and preserver of all things, the friend and 
judge of mankind* 



73 

It is therefore our duty as well as highest in- 
terest often, at stated times, and by decent and so- 
lemn acts, to contemplate and adore the great ori- 
ginal of our existence, the parent of beauty, and 
of all good ; to express our veneration and love 
by an awful and devout recognition of his perfec- 
tions; and to evidence our gratitude, by celebra- 
ting his goodness, and thankfully acknowledging 
all his benefits. It is likewise our duty, by prop- 
er exercises of sorrow and humiliation, to confess 
our ingratitude and folly, to signify our depen- 
dence upon God, and our confidence in his good- 
ness, by imploring his blessing and gracious con- 
currence in assisting the weakness, and curing the 
corruption of our nature* — And, finally, to testify 
our sense of his authority and our faith in his 
government, by devoting ourselves to his disposal. 
This is that internal piety or the worship of the 
mind which unassisted reason dictates, and all the 
great and wise men of the heathen v/orld recom- 
mended and practised. It may be proper, how- 
ever to remark, these duties are not therefore ob- 
ligatory, because the Deity needs not or can be 
profited by them : but as they are apparently de- 
cent and moral, suitable to the relations we sustain 
of our creator, benefactor, law-giver, and judge, 
expressive of our state and obligation, and improv- 
ing to our tempers, by making us more rational, 
social, and consequently more happy. And as 
God is the parent and head of the social system, 
as he has formed us for a social state, as by one 
we find the best security against the ills of life. 



74 

and in the other enjoy its greatest comforts, and 
as by means of both, our nature attains its highest 
improvement and perfection : and moreover, as 
there are public blessings and crimes in \vhich we 
all share in some degree, and public wants and 
dangers to which all are exposed ; it is therefore 
evident, that the various and solemn offices of pub- 
lic religion are duties of indispensable moral obli- 
gation, among the best cements of society, the 
firmest prop of government, and the fairest orna- 
ment of both. 

Extract of a letter from his excellency General 
Washington^ addressed to the people of the Uni- 
ted States^ 071 his resignation of the Presidency. 

OF all the dispositions and habits which lead to 
pvolitical prosperity, Religion and Morality are in- 
dispensible supports. In vain would that man 
claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor 
to subvert these great pillars of human happiness^ 
these firmest props of the duties of men and citi- 
'zens. Tke mere politician, equally with the pious 
man ought to respect and to cherish then^i. A vol- 
ume could not trace all their connections, with pri- 
vate and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, 
where it is the security of property, for reputa- 
tion, for life, if the sense of religious obligation 
desert the oaths, which are the instrument of in- 
vestigation in courts of justice ? And let us with 
caution indulge the supposition, that morality can 
be maintained without religion. Whatever may 



be conceded to the influence of refined education 
or minds of peculiar structure, reason and expe- 
rience both forbid us to expect, that national mor- 
ality can prevail in exclusion of religious princi- 
ples. 

'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality 
is a necessary spring of popular government, Th*- 
rule indeed extends with more or less force to eve- 
ry species of the government. Who that is a sin- 
cere friend io it, can look with indiiference upon 
attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric f 

Promote then, as an object of primary impor- 
tance, institutions for the general difFusion of 
knowledge. In proportion as the structure of 
government gives force to public opinion, it is es- 
sential that public opinion should be enlightened^ 

Peace of Co7iscience and Prayer for Healths 

YET gracious God, amidst the storms of nature. 
Thine eyes behold a sweet and sacred calm 
Reign thro' the realms of conscience : All within 
Lies peacefulj all compos'd. 'Tis v.ond'rous grace 
Keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom, 
Tho' stain'd with sins and follies, yet serene 
In penitential peace and cheerful hope, 
Sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood> 
Thy vital smile amidst this desolation. 
Like heavenly sun-beams hid behind the clouds, 
Breaks out in happy moments, with bright radlanqo 
Cleaving the gloom ; the fair celestial light 
Softens and gilds the horrors of the storm. 
And richest cordials to the heart co^iveys. 



76 

O glorious solace of immense distress, 
A conscience and a God ! A friend at home. 
And better friend on high ! This is my rock 
Of firm support, my shield of sure defence 
Against infernal arrows. Rise, my soul, 
Put on thy courage : Here's thy living spring 
Of joys divinely sweet, and ever new, ^ 

A peaceful conscience^ and a smiling heaven. 

My God permit a creeping worm to say, 
Thy spirit knonvs I love thee. Worthless wretch, 
To dare to love a God ! But grace requires, 
And grace accepts. Thou seest my laboring soul i 
Weak as my zeal is, yet my zeal is true ; 
It bears the trying furnace. Love divine 
Constrains me ; 1 am thine. Incarnate love 
Has seiz'd, and holds me in Almighty arms : 
Here's my salvation, my eternal hope, 
Amidst the wreck of world and dying nature, 
I am the JLorcFs, and he forever mine, 

O thou all-powerful word, at whose first call 
Nature rose ; this earth, these shining heavens, 
These stars in all their ranks came forth and said? 
Vt^e are thy servants : Didst thou not create 
My frame, my breath, ray being, and bestow 
A mind immortal on a feeble creature, 
Who faints before tJiy face ? Did not thy pity 
Dress thee in flesh to die, that I might live, 
And with thy blood redeem this captive soul 
From guilt and death ? O thrice adored name, 
My King, my Saviour, my Emmanuel, say, 
Have not the eye-lids markM my painful toil, 
The wild confusions of my shattered powers. 
And broken fluttering thougbt»^ Hast thou not seen 



77 

Each wrestiess atom that with vexing infiuence 
Works thro* the mass of man ? Each noxious ]^ict^^ 
Each ferment that infest the vital humours, 
That heaves the veins with huge disauietude, 
And spreads the tumult wide ^' Do they not lie 
Beneath thy view, and all within thy reach ? 
Yes, all at thy command, and must obey 
Thy sovereign touch : Thy touch is health and liiV 
And harmony to nature's jarring strings. ^ 

When shall my midnight sighs and morning- nioaFs 
Rise thro the heights cf heaven and reach thv car ' 
Propitious ? See, my spirit's feeble Dowers ' 
Exhal'd and breathing upward to thy throne, 
Like early incense climbing throujni the sky 
From the warm altar. When shatl grace^and ne^ce 
.Descend with blessings, like an evening shower 
On the parch'd desert, and renev/ my bloom ? 
Or must thy creature breathe his soul away * 
In fruitless groans and die ? 
Come, blest Physician, come attend the moao 
Of a poor suffering wretch,, a plaintive worm, 
Crush'd in the dust and helpless. O d^sc^rc], 
Array'd in power and love, and bid me rise. ' 
Incarnate goodness, send thy influence down 
To these low regions of mortality, 
Where thou hast dwelt, and clad in fleshly weeds 
Learnt sympathetic sorrows ; send and heal 
My long and sore distress. Ten thousand pra^'-e^ 
Attend thee : David's harp is ready strunp- 
For the Messiah's name : A winged flight 
Of songs harmonious and new honours wait 
TJie steps of winged mercy. 



78 
Few Happy Matches, 

i. SAY, mighty Love, aod teach ray song, 
To whom the sweetest joys belor.g, 

And who the happy pairs, 
Whose wiilipg hearts and joining hands. 
Find blessings twisted with their bands, 

To soften all their cares. 

t2. Not the wild l.erd of nymphs and swains^ 
That thoughtless i^y into the chains, 

x\s custom leads the way ; 
IF there be bliss without design, 
Ivies and oaks may grow and twine 

And be as blest as they. 

3. Not sordid sculs of earthly mould, 
Who draAvn by kindred chains of gold, 

To dull embraces move : 
So two rich mountains of Peru 
May rush to wealthy marriage too, 

xAnd make a world of love. 

4. Not the m^ad tribe that hell inspires 
With wanton flames : those raging fireS' 

The purer bliss destroy : 
On JLtna's top let furies wed, 
And sheets of lightning dress the bed 

T* improve the burning joy. 

5. Not the dull pairs, whose marble forrr^s 
None of the melting passion warms, 

Can mingle hearts and hands : 
Logs cf green wood, that quench the coals 
Are married just like stoic souls, 

Wiih oii'ers for their barjds. 



79 

6. Not minds of melancholy strains, 
Still silent, or that still complain, 

Can the dear bondage bless ; 
As well may heavenly concert spring 
From two old lutes with ne'er a string, 

Or none beside the base. 

7. Nor can the soft enchantments hold) 
Two jarring souls of angry mouldy 

The rugged and the keen ; 
Sampson's young foxes might as well 
In bands of cheerful wedlock chvell, 

With fire-brands tied between. 

8. Nor let the cruel fetters bind 
A gentle to a savage mind, 

For love abhors the sight ; 
Loose the fierce tiger from the deer, 
For native rage and native fear 

Rise and forbid delight. 

9. Two kindred souls alone must meet ; 
'Tis friendship makes the bondage sweet ; 

And feeds their mutual loves : 
Bright Venus on her rolling thione 
Is drawn by gentle birds alone, 

And Cupid yokes the doves. 



A sight of Heaven in sicknens^ 

1. Oft have I sat in secret sighs 

To feel my flesh decay ; 
Then groan'd aloud with frighted eyes, 

To view the tott'ring clay. 
5. But I forbid my sorrows now, 

Nor dares.the flesh complain : 



30 

Diseases bring their profits too. 
The joy o'erconies the pain. 
3. My cheerful soul now all the day 
Sits waiting here and sings : 
Looks through the ruin of her clay^ 
-r^ , And practises her wings. 

^^ 4. Faith almost changes into sight, 
While from afar she spies 
Her lair inheritance in light, 
Above created skies. 
6'. Had but the prison walls been stroi'igj 
And firm without a flaw, 
In darkness she had dwelt too long. 
And less of glory saw. 

6. But now the everlasting hill« 

Through ev'ry chink appear, 

And something of the joy she feels 

Whilst she's a pris'ner here. 

7. The shines of heaven rush sweetly IR 

At all the gaping flaws ; 
Visions of endless bliss are seen, 
And native air she draws. 

8. O juay their walls stand tott'ring still, 

The breaches never close. 
If I must here in darkness dw^ll, 
And all this glory lose. 

9. Or rather let tl^is flesh decay, 

The ruins wider grow, 
Till glad to see th' enlarged way, 
I stretch my pinions through. 

Earth and Heaven^ 
!. HAST thou not seen, impatient boy, 
Hast thou not read th^t solemn truths 



81 

Thai grey experience writes for giddy yoirth 

On ov'ry mortal joy : 

Pteanure must be dashed ivith pain. 

And yet wiih heedless haste, 

Tiic thirsty boy repeats the taste, 

Nor hearkens I'o despair, but tries the bowl again. 

Tli^ilis of pleasure never run sk^cere : 

(Earrb has no unpolluted sprnig :) 

From Uie curst soil some dang'rous taint they bear: 

So rose's grow on thorns, and honey wears a sting, 

2. In vain we seek a heaven below the sky ; 
The world has false but flattering charnns y 
Its di:Dtant charms shew big in our esteem, 
But lessen suH as they draw neftr the eye. 
In our embrace the visions die; 
And when we grasp the airy forms, 
AV e lose the pleasing dream, 

.>. Earth, with her scenes of gay delight, 
Is but a landscape rudely drawn, 
With glaring colors and false light ; 
Distance commends it to the sight, 
For fools to g?.ze upon ; 
But, bring the n use(jus daubing nigh, 
Coarse and confus'd the h'ledous figures li<^> 
Dissolve the pleasure, and offend the eye. 

4 Look up m^^ soul ! pant toward th' eterr^I h\\% 
Those hedveiS -ue fciiier thanihev seem ^ 
Tnere pleasures all sincere glide oiiinchrystal rills t 
There not a dreg of guilt defi es, 
Nor grief disluibsihe stream. 
Tiiat C tuaan kna*vs no noxious thing, 
N if ciu'sed soil, nor tauvied spring, 
Nor iQjes grow outhorni>, nor honey wetirs a sting* 
b 



S'2 

The day of Judgment* 

AN ODE. 

1. When the fierce north wirsd vv't*» his airy fv)rces 
Reurs upihe Buliic to u loanMng fury \ 

And the rad iighming, with w storm of hail, comes 

Rushing amain down : 

2. How the \x)or sailors stand amaz'd ar^d tremble ! 
^ ^ hije ihe hoarse thunder like ^a bloody trumpet 
Roars a loud ojibci to the gaping waters, 

Quick to devour them. 
I. Such shall the noise be, and the wild disorder, 
(if things eternal may be like these earthly) 
buch the due teiioi-, when the great archangel 

Shakes the Creation ; 
4. Tears the strong pillars of the vault of heaven, 
Breaks up uld marble the repose of princes : 
bee the graves open and the bones arising, 

Flames all around ^em. 
5^ Hdrk, the shrill outcries of the guilty wretches I 
Lively bright horror and amazing anguish, 
Stare through their eye lids, while the living 
worm lies Gnawing within them. 

6. Thoughts, like old vultures, prey upon their heart- 
strings, 
And the smart twinges, when their eyes beholds the 
Lofty judge frowning, and a flood of vengeance 

Rolling afore them. 
7 Hopeless immortals I how they scream and shiver^ 
VVhik devils pi sh them to the pit wide yawning, 
Hideous and gloonriy, to receive them headlong 

Down to the centre 
6. S'op here, my fancy ; (all away ye horrid 
Doleful ideas) come, arise to Jesus ! 



83 

How he sits God like ! and t? e saints around him 

Thron'd, yet adoring ! 
9. O may 1 sit there when he conies triumphant^ 
DtK) ijinti: the nations ! then asctnd to ijlory, 
While cur hosannas, all alung the passai^e, 

^hout ihc Redeemer ! 

The IiKomprthenaible. 

1. FAR in the heavens my God retires, 
/ My God 'he mark of my desires, 

And hides his lovtly face, 
When he descends within my 'view, 
He charms my leason to pursue, 
But leaves it tir'd and faiiitiiig; hi th' unequal chace. 

2. Or, if I reach unu?^ual heights. 
Till near his presence brought, 

There floods of giory cherk my sight, 
Cr.in^p the bold pinions of my Wit, 

And all untune my thought ; 
Plung'd m a sea of light I roll, 
Where wisdom, justice, mercy shines ; 
Infinite rays, in crossing lines, 
Seat quick conliision on my t^ight, aad overwhelm mj 
soul. 

\, Come to my aid, ye fellow minds, 
And help me reach the throne ; 

VVhat single str«igth in vam designs, 
Ui ited force hath done : 

Thus worms may join, and grasp the potes, 
Til js atoms fill the seas ; 
But the whoje race ol creature souls, 
kretch'd 'o their last extent of thought, plunge 

And are tost in thee. . 



84 

4. GFeat God, beholcL my reason lies 

Adoring, yet my love would rise 
On pini< n-^ not her own, 

Faitli shall direct her humble flight, 

Through all the trackless seas of light, 
To thee, the eternal Fair, the infinite unknown ! 

The SisuPs resemblance of Christ, 

THE closer association that we have here witt 
Christ, the nearer assimilation we shall have %\ 
Christ. Moses did but talk with God, and how 
did his face shine with a beam of God ! You maj 
quickly knov7 a soul that doth converse, and is fa 
miliar, with Jcsujs Christ; you shall see it shining 
forth with the glories of Christ ; as wisdom makes 
the face to shine, so Jesus Christ makes the soul 
to shine ; so that he who judiciously looks upon 
him can divine that the soul hath met with, and 
seen the Lord. I see by the reflection of the 
beams of righteousness, he has been long viewing 
the Son of righteousness ; he carries the very Im 
age ar^d the very beauties of Christ about him : he 
looks like Christ and speaks like Christ ; he walks 
and lives like Christ ; he resembles and knows he 
comes from Christ. The soul which is al'vays 
beholding the glory of the Lord, shall be charged 
into his image from glory ro. glory. If thut hutd 
be so glorious that beholds God darkly, reflective- 
ly, as in a glass and enjoys God it a distance^ liow 
glorious .^hall that soul be, that shull sec him clearj 
ly and disti!ictly> face to fcice, and enjoj his iml'l 
mediate commuaion with Jesus Christ t \Yc bhat I 



85 

he like Vim indeed, when v/e shall see him as h'e 
hs ; our bodies shall be like his : our glory shall 
be like his ; our eterniiy shall be like his; who 
js the God of beauty* excellency, and sweetness, 
concord, happiness, and eternity. O Lord, let 
me have such clear visions and sweet fruits of 
thee, thit I may not only hereafter be happy, but 
foay likewise now be holy. 

Sincere Pra'ise. 
] . ALMIGHTY > 1 aker, God ! 
How wond'rous is thy name ! 
Thy glories how ciiffus^d abroad 
Through the creation's fiame. 
• 2. Nature in every dress 

Her humble ho id age pays, 
And finds a thousand ways t' express 
Thine undissembled praise, 

3. In native white and red 

The rose and lilly stand, 
And, free from p'ide, their beauties spread^ 
To shew thy skillful hand. 

4. The lark mounts up the sky, 

With unambitious song, 
And bears her Maker's praise on high 

(Upon her artless toni^jue. 
- 5. My sou! would rise and sing 
To her Creator too. 
Fain would n^v tongue adore my King, 
And pay the worship due. 
6. But pride, that lofty sin, 
Spoils all that I perform : 
Curs'd pride, that creeps securely in. 
And swells a haughty worm. 



86 

i. Thy glories I abate, 

Or praise thee with desii^U; 
Some of thy favors I forget, 
Or think the merit mine. 

8. The very songs I frame 

Are faithless to thy cause, 
And steal the honors of thy name 
1 o build their own applause. 

9, Create my soul anew, 

Else all my worship*s vain ; 
This wretched heart will ne*er be trucp 
Until 'tis form'd again. 

10. Descend, celestial fire, 

And seize me from above, 
Melt me in fi.tmes of pure desire^ 
And sacrifice to love. 

1 1. Let joy and worship spend 

The remnant of our days, 
And to my God, my soul ascend, 
In sweet perfumes of praise. 

Improve the talents God gives you to his 6'er^J 
vice ajidglorif, Luke xix. 13. 

REMEMBER you are not made for yourselves 
OTilv, but for the society and benefit of others, 
therefore employ your gifts, substances, and what- 
ever God has bestowed, for the good of others ; 
teach the ignorant, relieve fche poor, strengthen the 
Weak, comfort those that are cart down, tell themi 
your experiences, commend Christ as a choice ' 
master and lovely Saviour, and invite them to 
come, taste and see that he i^ good ; pity those 
who ^re strangers to him, and pray for them. Be 



8T 

useful to others while you live, which will make 
your memorv savoury when you come to die ; ma- 
ny, alas are so unprofitable in their lives, that they 
leave no friends to lament their death ; but public 
spirited and useful persons are much lamented.— 
Jj^X every one in their stations be active, and oc- 
cupy their talent for God. Be assured, the more 
you do for God in this world, the more God will 
do for you in tlve world to come. If the saints 
were capable of grief in heaven, it would be tfteir 
doing so little good for God on earth 

The miserable end of prosperous ivickedness. 

' JORDAN, that famous river, no doubt runs 
through many a pleasant meadow, by many a sha- 
dy grove and flowery bank, and yet at last emp- 
ties itself into a dead sea ; and not only so, but 
those fresh chrystal streams that made those fa- 
mous brooks, lose both name and worth, are tur-f 
ned into the dead sea theniselves. Just so it is 
with a wicked man, here he walks through the 
meadows of worldly pleasures and rest, under 
the shades of earthly comforts and sports, and 
wallows himself among the flowers of worldly de- 
lights, but at last runs himself out into a dead lake, 
and is cast into hell among the numbers of those 
who forget God. 

Christ* s Aacension* 

I. HAIL the day that p.ees him risc; 
Ravish'd from our wishful eyes ; 



88 

Christ awhile to mortah o:lvoii, 
Re-ascends hi^ n inve heavtn : 
There the pompous lniimj)h waits ; 
« Lift up your heads eternal gdes 
" V; ide iinff»id the radiant scene, 
" Take the King of gloiy in ! 

3. Him tho* hiirhest he iven receives ; 
Still he loves the earMi he le ves; 
Though returning from his throne, 
Still he calls the wond his own ; 
Still for us he intercedes, 
Prevalent hi<^ death he pleads ; 
Next hmiself prepat es our place, 
Harbinger of human race. 

5. Master (may we ever sa>) 
Taken from our head to-day ; 
See thy faithful servant, see. 
Ever gazing up to thee! 
Grant tho' parted from thy sight, 

High abof e yojD azure height 

Grant our hearts may thither rise, 
Foirwing thee beyond the skJes. 

4. Ever upward let us move, 
Wafted on the wings of love, 
Looking when our Lord shall come. 
Longing, gasping, affer home ; 
There we shall with thee remain. 
Partners of thine endless reign, 
There thy face unclouded see * 
Find our heaven of heavens in thee. 



89 



The Spirits Farexuell to the body after a lon^ 
sickness, 
1. How am T held a pn>oner now, ^ 

Far fro n my God ! This mortal chain 
Binds me to sorrow ; all below 

Is short-lived ease, or tiresome pain. 

^ When shall that won'drous hour appear, 
Which fre-es me from this dark abode, 
To live at large in regions, where 

Nor cloud nor veil shall hide my Oodf 

3. Farewell this flesh, these ears, these eves, 

These snares and fetters of the mind ; 
My God, nor let this frame arise. 
Till every dust be well refin'd. 

4. Jesus, who mak'st our natures whole 

Mould me a body like thy own : 
Then shall it better serve my soul 

In works of praise and worlds unknown. 

The departing moment; or, absent from the body. 

1 . ABSENT from flesh 1 O blissful thoupjht I 

What unknow^n joy this moment brings 1 
Freed from the mischiefs sin has wrought, 
From pains and tears, and all their springs. 

2. Absent from flesh I Illustrious day I 

Surprising scene ! triumphant stroke, 
That rends the prison of my clay, 
And I can feel my fetters broke. 

3. Absent from flesh, then rise my soul, 

Where feet nor wings could ever ciimb? 



90 

Beyond the heavens where planets roll, 
Measuring the cares and joys of tMiip, 

4. 1 go where God and glory shine : 
His presence makes eternal day : 
My all that's mortal I resign, 
F&v Uiiel waits and points the way. 

Entrance into Paradise; or, present with the 
Lord. 
1. And is this Heaven ? and am I there ? 

How short the road ! how swift the flight ! 
I am all life, all eye, all ear ; 

Jesus is here— my soul's delight, 

2. Is this the heavenly fnend who hung 

In blood and anguish on the tree, 
Whom Paul proclaimed, whom David sung, 
Who died for them, who died for me ? 

3. How fair thou offspring of my God ! 

Thou first-born imai^c of his face 1 
Thy death procured this blest abode, 
Thy vita) beams adorn the place. 

4. Lo. he presents me at the throne 

All spotless — there the godhead reigns 
Sublime and peaceful through the Son : 
Awake, my voice, in heavenly strains. 

The Sight of God in Heaven. 

1. CREATOR God, eternal light, 

Fountain of good, trernendous power. 
Ocean of wonders, blissful sight ! 
Beauijy and love unkno^wn before 



! 



91 

3. Thy grace, Ihy nature all unknown 
In yon dark legion whence I came ; 
Where languid glimpses from thy throne, 
And feeble whispers teach thy name. 

3. I'm in a world where all is new ; 

Myself, my God : O blest ama^e s 
Not my blest hopes nor wishes knew 
To form a shadow of this grace. 

4. Fix'd on ray God, my heart, adore ; 

My restless thoughts, forbear to rove. 
My meaner passions stir no more, 
But all my powers be joy and love. 



Let every, rnaii abide in the same calling xvherein 
he was called^ 1 Cor. vii. 20. 

MOST of the employments of life are, in their 
own nature lawful ; and all those that are so, may 
he made a substantial part of our duty to God, if 
we engage in them only so far, and for such ends 
as are suitable to beings that arc to live above the 
world. This is the only measure of our applica- 
tion to any worldly business ; it must have rq 
more of our hands, our hearts, or our time, than is 
consistent with an hearty, daih% careful prepara- 
tion of ourselves for another life. For since all 
true Christians h^ive renounced this world to prcr 
pa-^e themselves, by daily devotion and universal 
holiness, for an eternal state of quite another na- 
ture, they naust loojc upqu w®rldly employment^ 



92 

?is upon worldiv wants and bodily infirmities; 
things not to be desired, onb/ to be endured and 
suff-red, till death and the resurrection has car- 
ried us to an eternal state of real happiness. A 
person^s being called into the kingdom of grace, is 
not designed to make void the duties that arise 
irom his peculiar calling or situation in life, but 
to enforce the practice of them in such a way as 
may be most to the glory of God. He, therefore, 
that does not consider the things of this life as of 
little moment, or even nothing, in comparison of 
the things that are eternal, cannot be said either to 
feel or believe the greatest truths of Chribtiau:ity. 

Lord save me from my calling's snare, 
From fraud and from the love of gain ; 

My hand be Rll'd with worldly care,' 
But all noy heart with thee remain. 



And the loftiness of man shall be hoxved douon ; and 
the haughtiness of men shall be made low ; and 
the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Isa. 
ii. 17. 

^' PRIDE was not made for man " savs the son 
of Sirach ; ^' and the proud of heart are an abom- 
ination to the Lord :'^ And yet what more com- 
mon than pride and self righteousness among the 
fallen children of Adam ? So deeply are they en- 
grafted in our corrupt natures, that nothing short 
of Almighty Grace can root them up. 



93 

It is the great design and effect of the hiessed 
gospel, whtrever ic is applied to the heart by the 
Spirit of God, to mortify this cursed temper* Id 
that day the haughtiness of roan^ his self-v/ill, that 
he set up in opposition to the will of God shall be 
brought down ; and his self righteousness by 
which he thought to recommend hiinself to the fa- 
vour of God, shall be m^de low ; and Christ, and 
his righteousness alone shall be exalted. 

Hath this precious promise ever been fulfilled 
m thv experience, O my soul ? Js the v/ill of God 
thy rule t Is the righteousness of Christ thy hope : 
And is the language of thy heart and life, Lev 
God in all things be exalted in me, and by mo, 
through Christ Jesus f Without this, O my souK 
thy profession is vain, thy faith is also vain, aod 
thou art yet in thy sins. 

Lord, lay my legal spirit low. 

And ev*ry lofty look subdue | 
Bid all my heart to Jesus bow^ 

Exult, and love, and trust him tm* 



I know also, my God. that thou trlest the hmrt. and 
hast pleasure in uprightness* L Chronicies, 
xxix- • 7- He ts a buckler to them that walk up- 
rightly. Prov. ii. 17. The Lard looks op. the 
heart- 1. Sam. xvi. 7. 

As God searches the heart and tries the reins, 
he canaut be deceived by outward form f we ought 



94 

not therefore to deceive ourselves in this particu- 
lar. It is no certain proof of a real conversion to 
God, if we only reform the grosser einjj of our for- 
mer lives, much less if we only abstain from such 
things as by nature we are not so much inclined to 
indulge : but if our hearts are so renewed by the 
grace of the holy Spirit, as to be firmly and habit- 
ually opposed to our most beloved lust, we have a 
good evidence of a real conversioTJ. For these 
inw^j*d capital enemies, the Lord a?id all his up- 
right followers attack most, before all the rest. 
If we would give over that which is dearest to us, 
we must first know and believe that Christ is both 
able and willing to help us, and has lovingly en- 
gaged his word, that none shall seek his face in 
vain. Let us keep this thought ever in our minds^ 
and it will stir up faith, and encourage diligence 
in seeking after salvation. 

Mistaken souls ! that dream of heaven^ 
And make their empty boast 

Of inward joys and sins forgiven, 
While they are slaves to lust. 

Vain are our fancies, airy flights? 

If faith be cold and dead ; 
None but a living power unites 

To Chriiat the living Head. 

Tis faid) tht^t changes all the heart,' 

'Tis faith that works by love 5 
Th:At bids all sinful joys depart, 

And lifts the thoughts above. 

'*':mh must obey her father's vvillj 
As well as trust his g*race f 



©5 

A pard'ning God is jealous still. 
For his own holiness. 

Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitful' 
ness oj sin* Heb. iii. 13. 

DOTH sin present itself, turn away from it 
with loathing and prayer. Give it not a look, lest 
it ^isnare thee. If thou committest sin, and diest 
without repentance, thy soul is lost, and thy re- 
demption ceaseth forever; or if thou committest 
sin and dost repent, yet expect chidings of God's 
face, and breakings of bones, as David felt for his 
cost. Oh what bitter pangs ! what painful throes ! 
what shadows of death ! what terrors of hell ma} 
'seize upon thee, before thou canst make thy peace, 
or settle thine assurance 1 Wilt thou glvie way to 
sin, because it is delightful, or because it is par- 
donable ? Who loves poison becciuse il is sweet ? 
or who drinks^oison because he may have an an- 
tidote ? seeing it will work to hh trouble, if it 
Work not out of his life ! I have a precious soul, 
shall I lose it for a lust ? I have a gracious God, 
shall I venture him for a sin i No, Lord, give mc 
grace to resist sin, give me Vietory over it ; let me 
always reject that, for the indulgence of which I 
am sure to lose my peace, and endanger the loss 
of my immortal soul. 

A tender conscience give me, Lord, 

And put my feet within ; 
That 1 may tremble at thy uord, 

And 'scape the snares of sin* 



96 
The Lord of All. 

€OME children, hail the Piince of Peace, 

Obey the Saviour's call 3 
Corije seek his face, ^nd taste his grace, 

And crown hira L©rd of all. 

Ye Lambs of Christ, your tribute bring, 
Ye children^ great and sraaJl , 

flosannas sing to Christ your King, 
O ! crown him Lord of ail. 

This Jesus will your sins forgive, 

For you he drank the gall, 
For you he died, that vou might live,. 

To croun him Lord of all. 

Let every little girl and boy. 

Who dweJl upon this ball. 
Their tor.gues employ with songs of jovj. 

And crown him Lord of all. 

Ye Ae^els round l\is throne unit^ 

While we before him fall ; 
Ye saints assist with all your might, 

To crown him Lord of all. 

Let all these children. Lord, be thine^ 

V hen suv'd from Satan's thrall \ 
Then we shall nieet, at Jesus' feet> 
To crown him Lord of all. 



Ml 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS p 

029 789 438 9 



:M^m. 



^w^/:« 



